Entity Framework 4.1: Expert’s Cookbook

Entity Framework 4.1 allows us to dive into the world of data access without having to write SQL statements. With the power to shape data access by your object model comes questions and this book holds the answers.

Entity Framework 4.1: Expert’s Cookbook holds many examples to help guide you through tough technical decisions and avoid technical landmines. The book will guide you from just using Entity Framework to enhancing the data access wizard.

This book starts with examples that require some familiarity of object relational mappers, and then moves on to more advanced tasks. You will be guided through complex mapping scenarios, query definition, reusability, integration with other technologies, and architectural management. The approach is step-by-step and test driven so that it is focused as much as possible on solving problems and getting the most out of the time spent working through the book.

Entity Framework 4.1: Expert’s Cookbook is a must have for any .NET developer who uses Entity Framework, and wants better, cleaner, and more maintainable code.

What you will learn from this book

• Manage database queries
• Leverage the full power of LINQ
• Test the data access layer
• Design an extensible data access layer
• Map any object model to a relational database
• Create clean integration tests
• Test queries in memory
• Compose even the most complex query scenarios
• Create and seed test databases from code
• Use stored procedures without losing the power of object oriented development

Approach
This book takes a step-by-step problem solving approach that leads you through a problem and explains each step in detail to accomplish the goal. This books gives you concrete code examples as well as detailed information on the decisions involved.

Who this book is for
This book is for intermediate to advanced .NET developers who have used LINQ to SQL or Entity Framework in some form but want to have more control over the implementation.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Improving Entity Framework in the Real World
Chapter 2: Understanding the Fluent Configuration API
Chapter 3: Handling Validation in Entity Framework
Chapter 4: Working with Transactions and Stored Procedures
Chapter 5: Improving Entity Framework with Query Libraries
Chapter 6: Improving Complex Query Scenarios
Chapter 7: Using Concurrent and Parallel Processing
Chapter 8: Improving Entity Framework with Complex Business Scenarios