Entity Framework vs LINQ to SQL Discover Learn Which ORM is the Best for You

Entity Framework vs LINQ to SQL?

When trying to decide between using the Entity Framework and LINQ to SQL as an ORM, what's the difference?

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Answer

Entity framework allows you to query and modify RDBMS like SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, and MySQL, etc., while LINQ to SQL allows you to query and modify only SQL Server database by using LINQ syntax.

The difference between Entity Framework and LINQ to SQL are as follows;

Entity Framework	LINQ to SQL
Allows one-to-one, one-to-many & many-to-many mappings	It allows only one to one mapping
Generates an .edmx files initially and relation is maintained using 3 different files .csdl, .msl and .ssdl	It generates a .dbml to maintain the relation
Works with various databases like Oracle, DB2, MYSQL, SQL Server, etc.	It can work only with SQL Server
Supports Code-first, Model-first, Storage-first approaches	Supports only Storage-first approach
Supports the complex type.	It doesn't support the complex type.
Supports TPH (Table Per Hierarchy), TPT (Table Per Type) TPC (Table Per Concrete Class) inheritance	Supports only TPH inheritance
Allows you to query data using EntitySQL, ObjectContext, DbContext.	It allows you to query data using DataContext.
Provides a loosely coupled approach, code first approach allow you to use Dependency Injection pattern which makes it loosely coupled.	It provides a tightly coupled approach.
It can generate a database from a model.	It cannot generate a database from a model.
Application-centric view of a database	Database-centric view of a database
It can be used for rapid application development with RDBMS like SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, and MySQL, etc.	It can be used for rapid application development only with SQL Server.