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Previews Released for Entity Framework Core 3.0 and Entity Framework 6.3
Microsoft has shipped the eighth previews for Entity Framework Core 3.0 and Entity Framework 6.3, with the dev team continuing its efforts to revamp problematic LINQ functionality.
Both Entity Framework 6.3 -- previously part of the old Windows-only .NET Framework -- and Entity Framework Core 3.0 are data development options for the .NET Core 3.0 milestone release coming next month that furthers Microsoft's cross-platform, open source transformation of .NET.
However, as we detailed earlier, the dev team found obstacles in moving LINQ to .NET Core.
LINQ (Language Integrated Query) uses C# code to query various types of data stores, providing IntelliSense, strong typing and other benefits in an alternative to SQL queries.
For months, the dev team has been wrestling with the new LINQ implementation in EF Core, and that work continued in the new preview 8.
"The LINQ implementation in EF Core 3.0 is designed to work very differently from the one used in previous versions of EF Core, and in some areas, it's still a work in progress," said program manager Diego Vega in an Aug. 13 announcement post. "For these reasons, you are likely to run into issues with LINQ queries, especially when upgrading existing applications." Workarounds were detailed for those issues.
While the team struggles with LINQ in EF Core 3.0, it's also focusing on update functionality.
"At this point, we are especially interested in hearing about any unexpected issues blocking you from upgrading to the new releases, but you are also welcome to try new functionality and provide general feedback," Vega said.
Thus, while few new features were announced, some 68 issues were resolved since preview 7, with more than 50 other fixes already done that didn't make it into preview 8.
On the EF 6.3 side, things are also a bit sticky, as Vega detailed a workaround for working with EDMX files until a new updated EF6 designer debuts in Visual Studio for .NET Core projects. Beyond that, upgrading from the old way (EF6) to the new way (EF Core) seems to be a major concern for the EF6 dev team.
"With the added ability to execute migration commands against .NET Core projects in Visual Studio 2019, most of the work planned for the EF 6.3 package has been completed," Vega said. "We are now focused on fixing any bugs that arise."
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David Ramel is an editor and writer for Converge360.