SQL Server MVP Deep Dives

Chapter 15. LINQ to SQL and ADO.NET Entity Framework

Bob Beauchemin

In ADO.NET 3.5 and 3.5 SP1, Microsoft introduced two models designed to abstract SQL statements into a high-level language and to operate on database data as objects. The first, LINQ to SQL, is a lightweight mapping of LINQ (Language Integrated Query) calls to the SQL Server database. The other model, ADO.NET Entity Framework (EF), consists of an object-relational mapping (ORM) framework as well as query and view services built over the ADO.NET provider model. The Entity Framework has its own dialect of SQL (Entity SQL or ESQL) and can use ESQL statements or LINQ queries to access data. Although neither framework uses vanilla T-SQL as its query language, both frameworks can ...