HI
What are the pros and cons for using ADO.NET entity model as a data layer? And should i use LINQ if i'm going to use this technology?
Thanks
HI
What are the pros and cons for using ADO.NET entity model as a data layer? And should i use LINQ if i'm going to use this technology?
Thanks
Here are some pro's about ADO.NET. I've found no cons yet. Edit: and some more about ADO.NET, including cons: Here
About LINQ: no one will force you to use LINQ (except maybe an employer), but it has certainly benefits in combination with ADO.NET. See also: Here.
Sorry for the bunch of links, but it's a lot of text to C/P. Happy reading :).
First of all: you don't have to use LINQ to use the Entity Framework (EF), but it certainly helps. EF is based upon something the EF team calls Entity SQL, so what really happens when you use LINQ to Entities is that the LINQ expressions are being translated to Entity SQL, which again are translated to whatever SQL dialect your database uses (T-SQL for SQL Server).
Pros and cons for EF is a bit of a controversial subject as most people don't particularly like EF, but I will try to keep it neutral.
Pros
Cons
In short, use it if you can use only what's baked into the BCL, or, if you are on .NET 4, give it a try; otherwise, there are better alternatives in the form of open source libraries.