Introduction to Entity Framework Core

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is a modern object-database mapper for .NET. It allows you to work with a database using C# objects instead of writing SQL queries manually.

What is Entity Framework Core?

EF Core is an open-source, lightweight, and extensible ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) from Microsoft. It supports LINQ queries, change tracking, updates, schema migrations, and more.

EF Core works with various databases:

SQL Server
SQLite
PostgreSQL
MySQL
In-memory (for testing)

Installing EF Core

Use NuGet to install the required packages. Example for SQL Server:

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

Code-First Development

You define your data models using classes, and EF Core generates the database schema.

Define a model:

public class Product
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

Create a DbContext:

using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

public class AppDbContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }

    protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder options)
        => options.UseSqlServer("your-connection-string");
}

Creating the Database

Use the EF Core CLI tools:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate
dotnet ef database update

This will create the database schema based on your model.

Why Use EF Core?

Reduces boilerplate SQL code
Provides strongly-typed access to data
Supports cross-platform development
Easy to maintain and test

EF Core simplifies database development in .NET. Next, we’ll dive into the heart of EF Core — the DbContext and DbSet — to see how they manage your data.

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