Introducing Entity Framework

Introducing Entity Framework
EF v1.0

History of ADO.Net
Object Relational Mapping {ORM}
What is Entity Framework?
Entity Framework Architecture
Entity Data Model {EDM}
Entity Client & Object Services
LINQ to Entities & Entity SQL {eSQL}
Agenda

Load Related Objects
Inheritance in Entity Framework
Entity Framework providers and multiple database support
Entity Framework Limitations
External Tools
References
Agenda (Cont.)

History of ADO .Net

Object Relational Mapping
{ORM}

ORM Basics & Concepts

Why it is considered an ORM?

An ORM framework, Why?
Database Independent
Extensible
Part of Microsoft .Net framework 3.5 SP1

Getting Started

Entity Framework Architecture

Entity Data Model (EDM)
What is Entity Data Mode?

Entity Data Model (EDM)

EDM in Action

Entity Client & Object Services

Entity Client
EntityClient Provider for Entity Framework System.Data.EntityClient
Abstracts DBMS Providers for Entity Framework Architecture

Entity Client in Action

Object Services

Object Services in Action

Break (30 minutes)

LINQ to Entities & Entity SQL

LINQ to Entities
What is LINQ
LINQ to Objects
LINQ to XML
LINQ to DataSets
LINQ to SQL
And more E.g. (LINQ to Twitter, LINQ to Flickr etc…)
LINQ to Entities

LINQ to Entities in Action

Entity SQL (eSQL)
Supported
NOT Supported
SQL based
Provider neutral
Supports EDM types
First class collections
Canonical functions
DML statements (insert, update, delete)
DDL statement (create, alter, drop)
Grouping functions (CUBE, ROLLUP, GROUPING_SET
Does not support the * construct

Entity SQL in Action

Entity SQL Vs LINQ to Entities
Dynamic queries (LINQ is compiled)
Store Function/Procedures is only supported in eSQL

Entity relation mapping (one to one, one to many, many to many)
Deferred Loading Vs Eager Loading Vs Explicit Loading
ObjectQuery<T> Class
EntityCollection<T> Class
EntityReference Class

Load Related Objects in Action

Table-per-Hierarchy (TPH)
Table-per-Type (TPT)

One table in storage to maintain data for all the types in an inheritance hierarchy.
Table-per-Hierarchy (TPH)

Separate table in storage to maintain data for each type in the inheritance hierarchy.

Table-per-Type (TPT)

Inheritance in Action

Entity Framework Providers
Multiple database support

Entity Framework Providers
MySQL Connector et (MySQL)
Devart (Oracle, MySQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL)
IBM (DB2, Informix and U2 databases)
Phoenix Software Solutions (SQLite)
Npgsql (PostgreSQL)
Sybase SQL Anywhere (SQL Anywhere 11)
Firebird (Firebird)
VistaDB (VistaDB 4.x)
Multiple Database Support in Entity Framework

Multiple Database Support

Known Issues and Considerations in LINQ to Entities
Ordering Information Lost
Nested Queries. Nested Queries May Fail with SQL Server 2000
Unsigned Integers Not Supported
Enums not supported
Referencing Non-Scalar Closures Not Supported
Custom extension methods Not Supported
Some common sense methods not supported (Single, SingleOrDefault)

Entity Framework VS.Net Designer Limitations
limitations in Entity SQL
DDL not supported
DML not supported (insert, update, delete)
Design issues
No Persistence Ignorance support a.k.a POCO
Leakage of Testability
I am sure there might be more 
Entity Framework Limitations (Cont.)

LINQPad
eSQLBlast
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/esql/
External Tools

References

MSDN
Programming Guide (Entity Framework)
Load Related Objects (Entity Framework)
TPH
TPT
Known Issues and Considerations in LINQ to Entities
Entity Framework and LINQ to Entities Forums
ADO.NET Entity Framework and LINQ to Entities (Pre-Release) Forums
References

Community
Zeeshan Hirani Entity Framework Learning Guide
Post
PDF
Gil Fink on Entity Framework
Moses’ blog on Entity Framework
Entity Framework Supported Mapping Scenarios White Paper by Asad Khan
References (Cont.)