Entity Framework Gets Updates, Previews

The Entity Framework (EF), Microsoft’s object-relational mapping (ORM) system, has been updated with new features and tools since its last major revision, EF 4.0, which was released in the .NET Framework 4 in Apr. 2010. The enhancements in EF 4.1 and later aim to simplify the developer experience working with data storage models while easing application maintenance. The EF is likely to gain popularity as it becomes the primary way to use Microsoft’s Language Integrated Query (LINQ) feature with SQL Server. However, a recent series of EF downloads from Microsoft could confuse development teams interested in the latest EF functionality.

Framework Abstracts Storage Models

The EF, part of the ADO.NET data access technologies of the .NET Framework, is a set of developer tools and runtime components that map application components that store and manipulate data to corresponding tables in a database management system, such as Microsoft’s SQL Server. Data access code is often repetitive and thus tedious to write, and changes to the database’s design (for example, introducing a new table of work site addresses in a human resources database) might require updating the data access code, which can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. The EF is designed to reduce the amount of data access code that a developer has to write and to simplify code maintenance in response to database design changes.