ADO.NET Entity Framework

ADO.NET Entity Framework Overview

The Entity Framework allows developers to focus on the data through an object model instead of the logical/relational data model. Once the EDM is designed and mapped to a relational store, the objects can be interacted with using a variety of techniques including EntityClient, ObjectServices, and LINQ.

While the traditional objects such as the DataSet, DataAdapter, DbConnection, and DbCommand are still supported in the upcoming release of ADO.NET available in Visual Studio "Orcas," the Entity Framework brings major additions that open ADO.NET to new and exciting possibilities.

Designing an Entity Data Model
Using the design tools in Visual Studio 2008 and the XML files, you can design an Entity Data Model that uses inheritance, invokes stored procedures, and models your business instead of writing code directly against your relational database schema. Once a solid entity model has been designed, interacting with it from APIs, such as Object Services, is quite simple—and modifications to the data model will not require changes in the database since the mappings can insulate the conceptual model from the storage model. If some of the concepts I've discussed here regarding the Entity Framework are foreign to you, I highly recommend you check out my overview of the Entity Framework, which is available at msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/07/DataPoints.