Why should I use Entity Framework over Linq2SQL ...

Posted by Refracted Paladin on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Refracted Paladin
Published on 2010-04-12T16:41:38Z Indexed on 2010/04/13 21:33 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 294

Filed under:

linq-to-sql

|

entity-framework

|

.NET

To be clear, I am not asking for a side by side comparision which has already been asked Ad Nauseum here on SO. I am also Not asking if Linq2Sql is dead as I don't care. What I am asking is this....

I am building internal apps only for a non-profit organization. I am the only developer on staff. We ALWAYS use SQL Server as our Database backend. I design and build the Databases as well. I have used L2S successfully a couple of times already.

Taking all this into consideration can someone offer me a compelling reason to use EF instead of L2S?

I was at Code Camp this weekend and after an hour long demonstration on EF, all of which I could have done in L2S, I asked this same question. The speakers answer was, "L2S is dead..." Very well then! NOT! (see here)

I understand EF is what MS WANTS us to use in the future(see here) and that it offers many more customization options. What I can't figure out is if any of that should, or does, matter for me in this environment.

One particular issue we have here is that I inherited the Core App which was built on 4 different SQL Data bases. L2S has great difficulty with this but when I asked the aforementioned speaker if EF would help me in this regard he said "No!"

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about linq-to-sql

how can i page my linq to sql result set

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Remembering MySQL could use the instruction "limit" to indicate where I was starting my result set and how many wanted to have included. Select * FROM Users Limit [start], [Length] How can I do this in LinqToSql >>> More
LINQ to SQL and missing Many to Many EntityRefs

as seen on West-Wind - Search for 'West-Wind'
Ran into an odd behavior today with a many to many mapping of one of my tables in LINQ to SQL. Many to many mappings aren’t transparent in LINQ to SQL and it maps the link table the same way the SQL schema has it when creating one. In other words LINQ to SQL isn’t smart about many to many mappings… >>> More
Comparing LINQ to SQL vs the classic SqlCommand

as seen on Dot net Slackers - Search for 'Dot net Slackers'
tweetmeme_url = 'http://alpascual.com/blog/comparing-linq-to-sql-vs-the-classic-sqlcommand/';tweetmeme_source = 'alpascual';When you are coming from using SqlCommand and SqlConnection is difficult to move to another library for your database needs. For those people still in the limbo to make the decision… >>> More
Comparing LINQ to SQL vs the classic SqlCommand

as seen on Dot net Slackers - Search for 'Dot net Slackers'
tweetmeme_url = 'http://alpascual.com/blog/comparing-linq-to-sql-vs-the-classic-sqlcommand/';tweetmeme_source = 'alpascual';When you are coming from using SqlCommand and SqlConnection is difficult to move to another library for your database needs. For those people still in the limbo to make the decision… >>> More
LINQ to SQL Profiler

as seen on Dot net Slackers - Search for 'Dot net Slackers'
In this article we will be taking a look at the new LINQ to SQL Profiler from HibernatingRhinos. This tool gives you a view into the goings on of LINQ to SQL. Not only does it allow you to see the SQL that is generated by your LINQ queries but it also shows you information about your connections… >>> More

Related posts about entity-framework

Differences Between NHibernate and Entity Framework

as seen on ASP.net Weblogs - Search for 'ASP.net Weblogs'
Introduction NHibernate and Entity Framework are two of the most popular O/RM frameworks on the .NET world. Although they share some functionality, there are some aspects on which they are quite different. This post will describe this differences and will hopefully help you get started with the one… >>> More
Entity Framework & Binding syncronisation

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
* EDIT * Sorry, I should make it clearer. Imagine I have an entity: public class MyObject { public string Name { get; set; } } And I have a ListBox: <ListBox x:Name="lbParts"> <ListBox.ItemTemplate> <DataTemplate> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}"/> … >>> More
Joins and UI Binding with the Entity Framework

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Learn how to build queries with the Entity Framework that involve multiple tables as well as binding in the UI with the EntityDataSource. >>> More
Frederick .NET User Group April 2010 Meeting

as seen on Geeks with Blogs - Search for 'Geeks with Blogs'
FredNUG is pleased to announce that we have an excellent speaker lined up for April. On April 20th, we’ll start with pizza and social networking at 6:30 PM. Then, starting at 7 PM, Dane Morgridge will present “Getting Started with Entity Framework 4” The scheduled agenda is: 6:30 PM - 7:00… >>> More
[News] NHibernate vs MS Entity Framework

as seen on Dot Net Guru - Search for 'Dot Net Guru'
Voil? une question qui se posera de plus en plus avec la sortie prochaine de .NET V4 et Entity Framework V4, l'outil de mapping objet/relationnel de Microsoft. M?me s'il est vrai que l'opinion de Ayende peut para?tre biais?e du fait qu'il est contributeur NHibernate, son point de vue et surtout ses… >>> More