When will linq to sql be phased out? Is entity frameworks (replacement) released yet? [closed]

Question

When will linq to sql be phased out? Is entity frameworks (replacement) released yet?

Answer 1

Yes, the ADO.NET Entity Framework has been released with .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1.

And no, Entity Framework will not replace LINQ-2-SQL per se - the two have quite different target audiences and have their own, respective target markets.

LINQ-2-SQL is great for simpler scenarios where your business objects are pretty much a 1:1 mapping of your database tables. This is often the case, and in such a scenario, EF is an overkill.

EF on the other hand is great in an enterprise level app where your business domain objects will not necessarily map 1:1 onto tables, or where you need to support multiple database backends beyond MS SQL Server.

Even with .NET 4.0, Microsoft is still making investments in LINQ-2-SQL - see Damien Guard's blog post to that effect.

Marc

Answer 2

Entity frameworks is released. LinqToSql will be updated for .Net 4 and is not going away any time soon.