Editing ADO.NET (section)

== Object-relational mapping ==
{{main|Object-relational mapping}}

=== Entity Framework ===
{{main|Entity Framework}}

Entity Framework (EF) is an open source object-relational mapping (ORM) framework for ADO.NET, part of .NET Framework. It is a set of technologies in ADO.NET that supports the development of data-oriented software applications. Architects and developers of data-oriented applications have typically struggled with the need to achieve two very different objectives. The Entity Framework enables developers to work with data in the form of domain-specific objects and properties, such as customers and customer addresses, without having to concern themselves with the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored. With the Entity Framework, developers can work at a higher level of abstraction when they deal with data, and can create and maintain data-oriented applications with less code than in traditional applications.

=== LINQ to SQL ===
{{main|LINQ to SQL}}

LINQ to SQL (formerly called DLINQ) allows [[LINQ]] to be used to query Microsoft SQL Server databases, including SQL Server Compact databases. Since SQL Server data may reside on a remote server, and because SQL Server has its own query engine, it does not use the query engine of LINQ. Instead, the LINQ query is converted to a SQL query that is then sent to SQL Server for processing. Since SQL Server stores the data as relational data and LINQ works with data encapsulated in objects, the two representations must be mapped to one another. For this reason, LINQ to SQL also defines a mapping framework. The mapping is done by defining classes that correspond to the tables in the database, and containing all or a certain subset of the columns in the table as data members.