EF CodeFirst advantages and disadvantages [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
EF 4.1 Code-first vs Model/Database-first

I just start learning about EF 4.0 CodeFirst, I want to hear from experts about What are the EF CodeFirst advantages and disadvantages ?

Answer 1

I think each approach is more suited to different scenarios:

Scenarios in which Database-first or Model-First are recommended:

• Long lasting databases with stable schemas
• Changes to database and model are incremental
• You want to be able to see your model in one diagram and update from there
• You can divide your model to non-overlapping diagrams

Scenarios in which Code-first is recommended:

• Development of model is done by programmers that are not interested in database
• Model classes contain logic
• Model classes have bizarre (non-standard) structures
• Model is divided between many assemblies that are not all known at design time (extensions)
• Databases are short lived (e.g. run-time of application)
• Database can change often

If you want a long lasting database which is dynamic enough to contain ever-changing structure, then consider generic classes/tables that your model/schema reuses for varying/context-dependant purposes.

Update:

I now recommend using Code-First for additional cases:

• When you want to be able to write and quickly and easily run integration tests on LocalDB (instead of working with SSDT)
• If you rather see the model and the mappings in a single place instead of going over diagrams and mapping windows
  • If you want it to be more visible if someone mapped properties correctly or not e.g. as ConcurrencyCheck
• Since you can easily disable schema generating in non-local environments, the character of the database is less relevant