ASP.NET Core & Entity Framework Core Tutorials

Welcome to the comprehensive guide to mastering Entity Framework Core within the ASP.NET Core ecosystem. This section provides a step-by-step learning path for developers of all levels to build efficient, maintainable, and powerful data-driven web applications.

Introduction to Entity Framework Core

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is a modern object-relational mapper (ORM) for .NET that enables developers to work with databases using .NET objects and LINQ. It eliminates the need for most of the data-access code that developers traditionally need to write.

Learn about:

  • What EF Core is and its benefits.
  • How it integrates with ASP.NET Core.
  • Supported database providers.

Read more about EF Core's introduction...

Getting Started with EF Core

This section guides you through setting up your development environment and creating your first EF Core data model and database context.

Topics include:

  • Installing necessary NuGet packages.
  • Defining your entity classes.
  • Creating a DbContext.
  • Configuring the database connection.

Example: Defining an Entity


namespace TutorialApp.Models
{
    public class Product
    {
        public int ProductId { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public decimal Price { get; set; }
    }
}

Core Concepts

Dive deeper into the fundamental building blocks of EF Core.

  • Entities: POCO classes representing database tables.
  • DbContext: The primary class for interacting with the database.
  • DbSet<TEntity>: Represents a table in the database.
  • Change Tracking: How EF Core monitors changes to entities.
  • Data Annotations vs. Fluent API: ways to configure your model.

Database Migrations

Manage your database schema changes efficiently using EF Core Migrations.

Learn to:

  • Create initial migrations.
  • Apply migrations to your database.
  • Handle schema evolution and updates.

Example: Enabling Migrations in Package Manager Console


PM> Add-Migration InitialCreate
PM> Update-Database

Querying Data with LINQ

Leverage the power of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) to retrieve data from your database.

  • Basic LINQ queries.
  • Filtering, sorting, and projection.
  • Eager loading, lazy loading, and explicit loading.
  • Executing raw SQL queries.

Working with Relationships

Define and manage relationships between your entities.

  • One-to-One, One-to-Many, and Many-to-Many relationships.
  • Configuring foreign keys and navigation properties.
  • Using the Fluent API for complex relationship configurations.

Advanced Topics

Explore more complex scenarios and advanced features.

  • Concurrency control.
  • Transaction management.
  • Performance optimization techniques.
  • Working with stored procedures.
  • Customizing EF Core behavior.

Best Practices

Follow recommended practices for building maintainable and performant data access layers.

  • Designing effective entity models.
  • Optimizing query performance.
  • Security considerations.
  • Testing your data access code.