🌱 Getting Started with Entity Framework Core: The Modern Way to Work with Databases in .NET

By Tareq Marji -

 

If you've ever felt bogged down by writing raw SQL or struggled to map database records to your .NET objects, Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is the tool you need. It's Microsoft's modern, open-source Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) that lets you work with databases using C# instead of SQL.

In this blog, we’ll explore what EF Core is, why it’s useful, and how to get started quickly with practical code examples.

🔍 What Is Entity Framework Core?

EF Core is an ORM that maps your C# classes to database tables, so you can:

✅ Query your database using LINQ
✅ Automatically generate tables from models (Code First)
✅ Keep your database schema in sync with your code
✅ Avoid repetitive SQL queries

It supports SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL, and many others.

🏁 Why Use EF Core?

Feature

Benefit

LINQ Integration

Query your database using strongly-typed C# code

Migration Support

Evolve your schema without manual SQL scripts

Cross-platform

Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Performance Optimized

Lightweight and fast for most common scenarios

🧪 Installation & Setup

Add EF Core and SQL Server provider to your project:

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

🏗️ Define Your Model

csharp


public class Product

{

    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string Name { get; set; }

    public decimal Price { get; set; }

}

Create a DbContext:

csharp

public class AppDbContext : DbContext

{

    public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }

 

    protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder options)

        => options.UseSqlServer("YourConnectionStringHere");

}

🚀 Code First: Migrations

Migrations are how EF Core manages schema changes:

1. Create the database schema:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate

2. Apply the migration:


dotnet ef database update

Boom 💥 — EF Core will create your database and tables automatically.

🔎 Querying Data with LINQ

csharp


using var context = new AppDbContext();

 

// Read

var products = context.Products.ToList();

 

// Filter

var cheapProducts = context.Products

    .Where(p => p.Price < 100)

    .ToList();

 

// Add

context.Products.Add(new Product { Name = "Keyboard", Price = 49.99m });

context.SaveChanges();

🔄 Updating and Deleting Data

Update:

csharp


var product = context.Products.First();

product.Price = 29.99m;

context.SaveChanges();

Delete:

csharp


context.Products.Remove(product);

context.SaveChanges();

🧠 Best Practices

  • Use AsNoTracking() for read-only queries to improve performance.
  • Use Fluent API in OnModelCreating for advanced mappings.
  • Always validate migrations before applying in production.
  • Keep DbContext lifetime scoped in dependency injection (AddDbContext).

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Mistake

Why it's a problem

Ignoring async queries

Leads to blocking and performance issues

Overusing .Include() eagerly

Can cause huge joins and slow queries

Skipping migrations

Makes schema drift likely

🛠️ Real-World Use Case

EF Core is perfect for:

  • ASP.NET Core Web APIs
  • Background services
  • Microservices
  • Cross-platform apps

Pair it with Clean Architecture and you’ve got a scalable backend foundation.

📚 Summary

EF Core lets you write modern, maintainable, and type-safe data access code. With powerful LINQ support, migration tools, and cross-database compatibility, it's a solid choice for any .NET developer.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scrutor the built-in Dependency Injection (DI)

By Tareq Marji -
  Scrutor is a lightweight .NET library that extends the built-in Dependency Injection (DI) system in ASP.NET Core (or any .NET application that uses Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection) by providing assembly scanning and automatic registration of services . Key Features of Scrutor Assembly Scanning Automatically registers services by scanning assemblies instead of manually specifying each one. This is helpful in large applications or when following clean architecture or DDD patterns. Service Registration by Convention You can register services based on naming conventions or interface implementation. For example, register all classes that implement a specific interface. Decorators Scrutor supports applying the decorator pattern easily through DI, allowing you to wrap services (e.g., for logging, validation, etc.) without modifying the core implementation.   Example Usage 1. Basic Scanning and Registratio...
Read more

🧅 Understanding the Onion Architecture: A Clean Approach to Building Scalable Applications

By Tareq Marji -
  When building modern, maintainable software applications, how you organize your code matters a lot. Over time, developers have learned that tightly coupled systems become hard to maintain, test, and evolve. Enter the Onion Architecture — a clean, layered architectural pattern that addresses many of these challenges by enforcing strict separation of concerns. 📌 What is Onion Architecture? The Onion Architecture , introduced by Jeffrey Palermo, is an architectural pattern designed to build maintainable, testable, and loosely coupled applications. Its core idea: The application is structured in concentric layers (like an onion), where dependencies always point inward toward the core. 🧅 Layers of Onion Architecture Here’s a quick breakdown of the typical layers from inside out: 1. Core (Domain) Layer Holds the business logic , domain entities, and domain services. No dependencies on other layers. Contains pure domain models (POCOs). ...
Read more

🔌 Extension Methods in C#: Power Up Your Code Without Modifying It

By Tareq Marji -
Have you ever wanted to add a method to an existing class (like string, DateTime, or even your own types) — without changing its source code? That’s exactly what extension methods in C# are for. 🚀 What Is an Extension Method? An extension method lets you "extend" an existing type (class or struct) with new methods , without modifying the type itself . ✅ It feels like you're adding a method to the type ✅ But you're really writing a static method with a special syntax 🧪 Real-Life Example Let’s say you want to capitalize the first letter of a string: ❌ Without Extension: csharp public static class StringUtils {     public static string Capitalize(string value)     {         if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return value;         return char.ToUpper(value[0]) + value.Substring(1);     } } Usage: csharp string name = "...
Read more

Understanding Dependency Injection: A Modern Guide for Developers

By Tareq Marji -
In today’s fast-paced software development world, building scalable, testable, and maintainable applications is a top priority. One of the core principles that help achieve this is Dependency Injection (DI) . Whether you're working in .NET, Java, Python, or another modern framework, DI is a foundational design pattern that every developer should master. What is Dependency Injection? Dependency Injection is a design pattern that deals with how components or objects acquire their dependencies. Rather than creating dependencies directly within a class, they are provided (injected) from the outside. In simple terms, instead of a class instantiating its own dependencies, they are passed to it — usually through the constructor, method parameters, or properties. Without DI (Tightly Coupled Code): csharp CopyEdit public class OrderService {     private readonly PaymentService _paymentService = new PaymentService();       public void Proce...
Read more

🌐 CORS in .NET Explained: Solving the Cross-Origin Problem Like a Pro

By Tareq Marji -
  Have you ever seen this error? Access to fetch at 'http://api.example.com/data' from origin 'http://localhost:4200' has been blocked by CORS policy 😖 Frustrating, right? Don’t worry — it’s a CORS issue , and in this post, we’ll break it down and solve it . 🧠 What is CORS? CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) is a browser security feature that controls how web pages can make requests to a different domain than the one that served the web page. 🔒 Same-Origin Policy Browsers follow the Same-Origin Policy , which means: A frontend running on http://localhost:3000 Cannot make API calls to http://api.mysite.com (a different origin) Unless the server allows it via CORS headers 🧾 CORS in Real Life Imagine your Angular app runs at: http://localhost:4200 And your .NET Core Web API runs at: http://localhost:5000 By default, if you try to call the API from the frontend, the browser will block the request unless...
Read more

Ensuring Data Integrity: The Backbone of Reliable Systems

By Tareq Marji -
  n the digital age, data is everything . But just having data isn’t enough — you need data that is accurate, consistent, and trustworthy . That’s where data integrity comes in. Whether you're managing a small application or an enterprise-level system, ensuring data integrity is critical for making reliable decisions, maintaining compliance, and providing a seamless user experience. In this blog, we’ll explore: What is data integrity? Types of data integrity Common threats How to implement and maintain data integrity Best practices 📌 What is Data Integrity? Data Integrity refers to the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data throughout its lifecycle. It ensures that data remains correct, unchanged (unless properly updated), and usable — whether it's in a database, in transit, or archived. In short: Can you trust your data? If yes, it has integrity. 🧱 Types of Data Integrity Data integrity can be categorized into two mai...
Read more

🔐 JWT (JSON Web Token) Explained: Secure Your APIs the Modern Way

By Tareq Marji -
  If you're building APIs or modern web apps, you've probably heard of JWT . But what is it, really? In this post, we'll break down: What JWT is How it works Why and when to use it How to implement it in a .NET Core API 🚀 What is JWT? JWT stands for JSON Web Token . It’s a compact, URL-safe token used to securely transmit information between two parties — typically between a client and a server. Unlike traditional session-based authentication (which stores session data on the server), JWT is stateless . All the information is stored in the token itself . 🧱 Structure of a JWT A JWT has three parts , separated by dots: xxxxx.yyyyy.zzzzz 1. Header Specifies the type of token and the algorithm used to sign it. json {   "alg": "HS256",   "typ": "JWT" } 2. Payload Contains the claims (data like user ID, roles, expiration, etc.). json {   "sub": "1234567...
Read more

🔗 SQL JOINs Explained: Mastering Table Relationships

By Tareq Marji -
 In real-world databases, information is often spread across multiple tables to reduce duplication and maintain normalization. JOINs allow you to combine this data logically for powerful querying. But many developers struggle with when and how to use the different types of JOINs. Let’s break it all down — visually and practically. 🧠 What is a JOIN? A JOIN in SQL is used to combine rows from two or more tables based on a related column between them. Example Scenario : You have: Customers table Orders table You want to list all orders along with customer names. That’s where JOINs come in. 🧩 Types of SQL JOINs JOIN Type Description INNER JOIN Only matching rows from both tables LEFT JOIN All rows from the left, and matched rows from the right RIGHT JOIN All rows from the right, and matched rows from the left FULL JOIN All rows from both tables (matched or not) CROSS JOIN Cartesian product (every row of A × every row of B) SELF JOIN Joining a table to itself...
Read more

🗂️ DROP vs DELETE vs TRUNCATE in SQL: What’s the Difference?

By Tareq Marji -
  When working with relational databases like SQL Server, MySQL, or PostgreSQL, managing your data correctly is crucial. Three common SQL commands used to remove data or tables are: 🔹 DROP 🔹 DELETE 🔹 TRUNCATE While they might look similar, they are very different in terms of use, performance, and consequences. Let’s break them down and understand when to use which. ⚔️ Quick Comparison Feature DELETE TRUNCATE DROP Removes data ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ❌ No (removes table) Removes structure ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Yes Can filter rows ✅ Yes (WHERE) ❌ No (all rows) ❌ N/A Transaction-safe ✅ Yes ✅ Yes (mostly) ✅ Yes Can be rolled back ✅ Yes ✅ Yes (depends) ✅ Yes (in some DBs) Resets identity ...
Read more

🛡️ SIEM Logs Explained: How to Build Secure and Auditable .NET Apps

By Tareq Marji -
  In today’s security-conscious world, it’s no longer enough to just log errors and crashes. You need to log security-related events too — for compliance , auditing , and incident response . That’s where SIEM logs come in. 🧠 What is SIEM? SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is a security solution that helps organizations collect, store, analyze, and alert on security-related logs and events. Popular SIEM platforms include: 🛡️ Splunk 📊 IBM QRadar ☁️ Microsoft Sentinel 🧭 Elastic SIEM 🔍 ArcSight 📦 What Are SIEM Logs? SIEM logs are not a specific format. They’re structured logs that contain security-relevant events , such as: User logins / logouts Failed login attempts Access to sensitive data Privilege escalation System configuration changes These logs are sent from apps and servers to a central SIEM system , where they are: Parsed Correlated Stored Alerted upon 🧱 Anatomy of a Good...
Read more