Difference Between Entity SQL and Transact-SQL

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Difference Between Entity SQL and Transact-SQL
2013-06-04 17:06:02 Jinal Desai
Entity SQL is a SQL-like language that enables you to query conceptual models in
the Entity Framework. Conceptual models represent data as entities and
relationships, and Entity SQL allows you to query those entities and relationships in
a format that is familiar to those who have used SQL. Transact-SQL is extension to
SQL created for communicating with SQL Server. All applications that communicate
with an instance of SQL Server do so by sending Transact-SQL statements to the
server, regardless of the user interface of the application.
Both sounds similar but there are many differences between these two. Following
table represents those differences.
Entity SQL Transact-SQL
Is a language similar to SQL used to work
with an Entity Data Model (EDM).
Is an ANSI SQL language used for
stored procedures and functions.
Is used to work with conceptual entities by
supporting features like inheritance and
relationships.
Is used to write stored procedures in
relational databases.
Supports collections and considers them
as first class entities.
Does not support collections but does
support subqueries and expressions.
Interprets all subqueries to be multiset
subqueries, irrespective of the context in
which they are used.
Interprets subqueries as per the
context in which they are used.
Allows expressions defined in a from
clause to reference earlier expressions
defined to the left in the same clause.
Does not allow expressions to
reference earlier expressions defined
in the same scope, such as in a
select clause.
Table columns can only be referenced by
qualifying them with a table alias, except in
from clauses where table aliases are
optional.
Table columns are referenced
directly.
Uses the “.” notation to navigate through
the properties of an object.
Uses the “.” notation to reference
columns.
Does not support the * construct. Supports the * construct.
Supports SQL-style aggregates and
collection-based aggregates.
Supports only SQL-based
aggregates.
Allows nested ORDER By expressions
anywhere in the queries.
Allows ORDER By clauses only in the
top most SELCT, FROM, and

2. anywhere in the queries.
WHERE clauses of the queries.
Identifiers are compared according to the
case and accent.
Identifiers are compared according to
the current database collation.
Supports a subset of Transact-SQL’s built
in functions and operators.
Supports additional functionalities that
are not supported in Entity SQL
including:
Analytic Functions
Builtin Functions, Operators
DDL
DML -insert, update, delete.