ADO.NET Entity Framework

The ADO.NET Entity Framework is designed to enable developers to create data access applications by programming against a conceptual application model instead of programming directly against a relational storage schema. The goal is to decrease the amount of code and maintenance required for data-oriented applications. Entity Framework applications provide the following benefits:

  • Applications can work in terms of a more application-centric conceptual model, including types with inheritance, complex members, and relationships.

  • Applications are freed from hard-coded dependencies on a particular data engine or storage schema.

  • Mappings between the conceptual model and the storage-specific schema can change without changing the application code.

  • Developers can work with a consistent application object model that can be mapped to various storage schemas, possibly implemented in different database management systems.

  • Multiple conceptual models can be mapped to a single storage schema.

  • Language-integrated query (LINQ) support provides compile-time syntax validation for queries against a conceptual model.

Where Should I Start?

Depending on what you are most interested in, you should consider getting started with the Entity Framework in one of the following topics.

In This Section

See Also

Other Resources

ADO.NET