Introduction

Welcome to this guide on using Visual Studio 2022 with C#, .NET Core, and EF Core. In this tutorial, we will explore how these technologies work together to develop robust and efficient applications. We will also provide code examples and practical tips to help you get started.

.NET Core is a cross-platform, open-source framework for building modern applications. It provides a unified development model for creating web, desktop, and mobile applications using C#. EF Core is an object-relational mapping (ORM) framework that simplifies database operations by mapping objects to database tables.

Setting Up Visual Studio 2022

Before we dive into coding, let's set up our development environment. Here are the steps to install Visual Studio 2022:

  1. Go to the [Visual Studio 2022 download page]( and download the version suitable for your operating system.
  2. Run the installer and select the components you want to install. Make sure to include the ".NET Core development" workload.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions and wait for the installation to complete.

Once Visual Studio 2022 is installed, open it and create a new project.

Creating a .NET Core Project

Let's create a new .NET Core project using Visual Studio 2022:

  1. Open Visual Studio 2022 and click on "Create a new project."
  2. Select "ASP.NET Core Web Application" and click "Next."
  3. Choose a project name and location, and click "Create."
  4. In the next window, select the "API" template and make sure to check the "Enable Docker Support" checkbox if you want to use Docker for containerization.
  5. Click "Create" to create the project.

Visual Studio will generate a basic .NET Core project structure for you. You can now start coding!

Creating a Model with EF Core

EF Core makes it easy to work with databases in .NET Core applications. Let's create a simple model using EF Core:

  1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and select "Add" -> "New Folder" to create a folder for your models.
  2. Right-click on the newly created folder and select "Add" -> "Class" to create a new class file.
  3. Name the class "User" and replace the code with the following:
public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

The User class represents a user entity with properties for id, name, and age.

Creating a Database Context

Now that we have our model, let's create a database context using EF Core:

  1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and select "Add" -> "New Folder" to create a folder for your database context.
  2. Right-click on the newly created folder and select "Add" -> "Class" to create a new class file.
  3. Name the class "AppDbContext" and replace the code with the following:
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

public class AppDbContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<User> Users { get; set; }

    protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder optionsBuilder)
    {
        optionsBuilder.UseSqlServer("YourConnectionString");
    }
}

Replace "YourConnectionString" with the connection string for your database.

The AppDbContext class inherits from DbContext and provides a property for the User entity. We override the OnConfiguring method to configure the database provider, in this case, SQL Server.

Migrating the Database

Now that we have our model and database context, let's migrate the database using EF Core:

  1. Open the Package Manager Console by going to "View" -> "Other Windows" -> "Package Manager Console."
  2. In the Package Manager Console, run the following command:
PM> Add-Migration InitialMigration

This command creates a new migration with the name "InitialMigration." Migrations are used to apply changes to the database schema.

  1. Run the following command:
PM> Update-Database

This command applies the pending migrations and creates the database.

Using EF Core in a Controller

Now that our database is set up, let's use EF Core in a controller to perform CRUD operations:

  1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and select "Add" -> "New Folder" to create a folder for your controllers.
  2. Right-click on the newly created folder and select "Add" -> "Controller" to create a new controller.
  3. Choose the "API Controller with actions, using Entity Framework" template and click "Add."
  4. Select the "User" model class and the "AppDbContext" database context class, and click "Add."

Visual Studio will generate a controller with actions for CRUD operations using EF Core.

Conclusion

In this guide, we have explored how to use Visual Studio 2022 with C#, .NET Core, and EF Core. We learned how to set up the development environment, create a .NET Core project, use EF Core to create a model and database context, migrate the database, and perform CRUD operations using EF Core in a controller.

Using these technologies together, you can