Entity Framework Core in 2026

This article gives the introduction about Entity Framework core, which is a modern, lightweight, open-source Object–Relational Mapper (ORM) for .NET. It lets you work with a database using C# objects instead of writing rawSQL. It is designed to work with .NET Core and .NET Framework applications and provides an Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) that enables .NET developers to work with a database using .NET objects.

What is ORM?

ORM stands for Object Relational Mapping. It allows developers to convert data between OOPS and Relational database(such as sqlserver,mysql,oracle) ORM allows developers to work with data in terms of objects rather than tables and columns.It means ORM automatically creates classes based on database tables and vice versa. ORM framework takes repsponsibility of CRUD operations such as opening connection,executing command,handling transaction,closing connection.It simply does all the data access related things.

What is use of Entity Framework core in our application?

• Cross-platform : It works with various platforms like Windows,Linux,Macos
• Performance: It is optimized for performance,it is suitable for all types of applications
• Integration: It easily integrates with .Net Core and making it easy for data access.
• Flexibility: it supports various data providers ,which allows to work with different databases
• Extra Features: It supports features like asynchronous operation,best for linq queries

Entity Framework Core Development Approaches:

There are three kinds of entity framework approaches.

• CODE FIRST
• DATABASE FIRST

CODE FIRST:

Here data model classes is created first, entity framework core created database schema based on model For eg:-

public Class Customer 
{ 
public int Customerid{get;set;}
public string CustomerName{get;set;}
public string Address{get;set;}
public string City{get;set;}
public string Country{get;set;}
}
                        

Note: So the above domain class will get converted to table during database creation.

DATABASE FIRST:

In database first approach, here existing database is available.EF core will generate model class based on table in database.In this approach, application code will not have control on database.

ENTITY FRAMEWORK DATABASE PROVIDERS:

EF Core supports various database providers such as

• Microsoft Sql Server
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL
• MySql
• MongoDB
• SQLite

EF 6	EF Core
It was released in 2008 with .Net Framework 3.5	It was released in June 2016 with .Net Core 1.0
Windows only	Windows , Linux, osx
Works on .Net framework 3.5+	Works on .Net framework 4.5+ and .Net core
Less Optimized	Optimized for performance
Old LINQ support	Improved LINQ support
Here also Eager/Explicit/Lazy supported but traditional way.	Eager/Explicit/Lazy : works with better control
Traditional Migration	Fluent Migration