CODEWITHSUNDEEP
entity-framework
Hari Subramaniam
Hari Subramaniam

Reputation: 1876

Entity framework - Code First - Is it really good approach for big projects?

I have been doing some reading on code first approach of the entity framework and the other approaches(Model first, database first).

1.)The reason supporting entity framework code first approach in a lot of blogs seems to be to keep developers happy so that they dont have to work with designers. I am suprised at this argument because, you develop a project to keep your customers happy and not your developers. How many projects out there have developer happiness in the project plan. Another argument is to avoid a lot of mappings on xml. Well, if not xml, we end up doing that anyways in OnModelCreating and adding [Key] attributes to domain models. So mapping is not eliminated.

2.)Also when you generate a database from the code(domain model), the domain model is designed in an OO way and the generated database structure might not be the optimal one, which forces me to think that this code first approach is only suitable for small projects.

Are arguments correct?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1610

Answers (1)

Element
Element

Reputation: 4051

1) The reason for the code first paradigm is to save development time by reducing the amount of tedious repetitive work developers have to do (which in turn makes them happier). Code first allows developers to forget about SQL for the most part (sometimes you will still have to write stored procedures) and focus on the data model and business logic. It is much easier to version your database (especially during development) as each developer only has to change their c# models rather than write a new SQL script, check it in and make sure everyone else on the team knows to run it. As for the XML files in the past in orther ORM's I've found it a pain to constantly lookup the corresponding xml file when you are modifying the domain classes. I personally find the fluent interfaces quicker when making changes to my data model. Also the xml files entity framework used in v1.0 became so large they were a real pain to edit/manage when your database got to be of any real world size.

2) I can't think of a scenario where a data schema could only be created via SQL and not expressed as c# with entity framework code first.

Upvotes: 1

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