Kirk Bowman said
Over the past 20 years of my career as a software developer, application architects have recommended that enterprise applications be developed using multiple tiers to separate the concerns of the user interface, business logic and data access layers. The challenge for programmers has been to determine how one would actually build and maintain such a beast. Microsoft has addressed part of the data portion of this architecture recommendation by introducing the "Entity Framework" (EF) to the .Net technology stack.
In most cases, databases are designed for the database administrator and not the application developer. The EF allows a programmer to add an Entity Data Model (EDM) to a client application. With an EDM, programmers can create application centric object interfaces to their data sources without having to concern themselves with the nuances of the underlying data structures. The EF takes care of translating these application objects to the SQL statements that interact with the database. So, what will lead us on this journey?
The "Programming Entity Framework" book can be divided into two major sections. Chapters 1-14 provides an introduction to all the major EF concepts while Chapters 15-23 covers advanced topics. There is a website at http://learnentityframework.com/learnentityframework/ that supports the book and allows you to download database scripts and sample applications. (As a side note, I learned from this site that the author has agreed to update her book to cover changes introduced in the 2010 version of Visual Studio.)
I like the fact that Ms. Lerman provides both VB and C# code side by side with all of her examples (my personal goal is to become fluent in both languages). The book is peppered with side notes (designated by three paw prints) that make some clarification or add pertinent information to the page.
I did a search of alternative books that cover this same subject. I investigated the online information provided by Microsoft. None of the books I researched (as well as the Microsoft articles online) came close to the scope and readability of this book. Lerman does a great job of balancing her independent point of view on this subject with the insider tips and information that make for a good read.
The myriad of tools and components contained in the EF are now a strategic part of Microsoft's data access strategy going forward. So don't get left behind. I recommend "Programming Entity Framework" as your train to the data access future. I guess that would make Julia Lerman your Conductor and Engineer on this trip as well ... ;-).
Software Guy said
EF is a reasonably complex topic and I applaud anyone who makes a sincere attempt to write about it. However, months after reading this book, I have decided that it only marginally helped me in my training for EF. It is written in a disjointed fashion as if the author was still puzzling the material even as she was submitting it for publication. If her knowledge of the subject is comprehensive, then the problem is she doesn't have the ability to convey it in a comprehensible way. I got it because there was, and is, still relatively little material on the market about EF. It did help me a little when I decided to use it as an occasional reference; sometimes I found a concept that helped me in isolation. Until a lot more and better quality material information is published, if you must learn EF for a medium to large project, then I recommend getting everything you can get your hands on including this book, but rely more on MSDN, StackOverflow, random Google searches and, of course, experimentation to round out your education.
Where is Stephen Walther when you really need him?
FWIW: The good news is that once you understand EF, it really will change the way you write code, and your applications will absolutely fly.
Ryan L. Todd said
I have hundreds of computer books on programming in the last 24 years. This is by without a doubt the best written, most informative on the subject matter of any book I ever purchased. Julia Lerman knows her subject matter and is able to pass her knowledge on without losing the reader along the way. O'Reilly needs to hear more from her! Great author and excellient work! I want to thank Julia Lerman for her time and attention to details she put into this effort! Thanks
Harley O'Brien said
This is a great book for both the beginner programmer willing to know about the EF and for the seasoned coder who wants the details of this new data access technology.
Sample code is available in both VB and C#, with good examples and techniques.
.Net learner said
This book is absoluetely amazing.
If you don't know what you are talking after doing the hands on, on this book, then the book has done it's job
The first ten chapters are intro to advance ling sql entity framework-the author waste no time explaining the approach in lamens- this i liked alot me being a learner
I espectially liked the N-tier implementation towards the end of the book
The book has included some wcf and wpf implementations too- no chance of getting bored with this book
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