Where can I get Entity Framework from?

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+2 Q:

Where can I get Entity Framework from?

I am sorry this is perhaps a really stupid question. Forgive me because I come from a Java background and I am making an effort to learn .Net technologies.

I am trying to follow the tutorial for an ASP.Net MVC website from their website and I get to the part where I need to make a new model. When I right click they say I must choose ADO.Net Data Entity Model. Problem is this option is not available. I am not sure if I installed ADO.Net or if it comes standard. I have VS 2008 Professional Edition and I am running on a Vista VM (Sun VirtualBox, didn't want to ruin my current environment).

EDIT:

Humble apoligies. I was going too quickly. I now see that SP1 is a pre-req to the tutorial. Thanks everyone

+3 A:

For Entity Framework (aka ADO.NET Entity Model) to be there, you'll need to install VS2008 SP1 (which also includes the required .NET 3.5 SP1).

You also need to ensure that framework 3.5 is selected for the project, but for MVC I guess this should already be the case...

It is also possible that your templates are simply not working properly...

Marc Gravell 2009-05-16 09:44:01

Thanks Marc. I have not installed the service pack yet. I will give that a try.

uriDium 2009-05-16 09:54:55

Note that the upgrade installer can take a little while; but it is faster than the VS2005SP1, thankfully.

Marc Gravell 2009-05-16 09:57:04

I see that it already thinks that I have .Net 3.5 SP1 and Vs2008 SP1. How do I trouble shoot the templates? How can I make sure that the necessary is installed?

uriDium 2009-05-16 10:05:14

Oh wait, although the about in VS says Service Pack 1 I think it might have been refering to the .Net service pack. Because the VS service pack is installing and didn't ask to repair/uninstall.

uriDium 2009-05-16 10:07:28

Entity Framework's second release is just around the corner (EF 4.0). I am guessing the beta could be released in a matter of days. It will have some big changes so I would suggest you get on board with that as soon as it comes out so you don't have to re-work your code.

aleemb 2009-05-18 10:01:22

+1 A:

Just as an alternative, if you're coming from a java background, run through the SharpArchitecture tutorial instead. It uses NHibernate for data access so assuming you know Hibernate you should be rocking in no time.

EF is very new technology and not held in high regard (yet?) in the .net world.

EDIT: In fact, if you want to gauge the current mood, using EF can incur the wrath of the Wererhino.

IainMH 2009-05-16 09:49:48

Hi. Thanks. I was just going to go through a quick tutorial and then I am definitely going the NHibernate route. My Java roots are hard to shake :)

uriDium 2009-05-16 09:54:10

I've been using EF in all my (so far small scale) projects though, and I absolutely love it! Had no "infancy" problems so far.

Tomas Lycken 2009-05-16 09:54:24

@Tomas - That's interesting. Do you blog? I'd love to know more. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I've only heard bad things about it. I would love to hear some balance (from someone outside MS)

IainMH 2009-05-16 09:59:52

@Thomas - I would be very interested to know what sort of performance EF has. There is a bit of mismatch between realtion DB and OO. I work at companies where DB performance is critical with billions of records everyday. We need incredible TPS so I am used to programming at close to DB level as possible. I am worried that things like NHibernate and EF and other abstractions will ruin performance. For small projects no problem but high performance is it still suitable? What is the performance hit?

uriDium 2009-05-16 10:20:18

ansaurus

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Where can I get Entity Framework from?

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