0

Now that Entity Framework 4.0 is coming out I was wondering, if you were planning to use EF 4.0 when it is released would it be easier to go from LinqToSQL to EF 4.0 or EF 3.5 to 4.0?

In other words if you were starting a project now anticipating using EF4.0 would you use LinqToSQL or EF3.5 now?

Michael Maddox
  • 12,331
  • 5
  • 38
  • 40
dtc
  • 10,136
  • 16
  • 78
  • 104
  • Why do you want to move away from L2S? – KristoferA Nov 25 '09 at 15:35
  • EF seems to be getting more attention by microsoft. L2S still works in 4.0 and seems to have some improvements but EF4.0 has vastly improved from what I read so I'm thinking to give it a try again. It also resolves 2 of the reasons I did not use it in the past. I'll have to think about this more since I realized if I do plan to use EF4.0 I could install Beta 2 and start using it now... but it depends on when .net 4.0 is released. I do like L2S and it is good to see MS isn't abandoning it as many reported. – dtc Nov 25 '09 at 16:50

1 Answers1

3

It will be easier to migrate from EF 3.5, because many parts of the code will be common. It still will be a lot to do, because if I migrated to EF 4.0, I would propably switch to code only design. Why do you limit yourself to EF and Linq to SQL? There are other solutions: Subsonic, nHibernate. They are more mature, thought through and well tested.

LukLed
  • 31,452
  • 17
  • 82
  • 107
  • Thanks for the reply. The reason I limit to LinqToSQL and EF is just because they do what I need and are built into the .net framework. – dtc Nov 24 '09 at 09:12
  • I wouldn't use it just because it is built into .net framework. LinqToSQL got many positive reactions, EF much, much less. You should at least look at other solutions. – LukLed Nov 24 '09 at 18:43
  • 1
    Yes, I did consider others including Subsonic. LinqToSQL and EF for me just work, so I use them. I tried Subsonic a little but didn't have a great time setting it up (seems easy, but I ran into lot of errors). I've also had many experiences using 3rd party libraries that failed to keep up with the .net frameworks suddenly stopped being developed. I'm going to try EF4.0 before I make any decisions of course. – dtc Nov 25 '09 at 16:39