[This article was contributed by the SQL Azure team.]

As we were developing this week’s posts on utilizing Entity Framework with SQL Azure we had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Faisal Mohamood, Senior Program Manager of the Entity Framework team. 

As we’ve shared in earlier posts this week, one of the beautiful things about EF is the Model First feature which lets developers visually create an entity model within Visual Studio.  The designer then creates the T-SQL to generate the database schema.  In fact, EF give developers the opportunity to create and query SQL Azure databases all within the Visual Studio environment and not have to write a line of T-SQL.

In the video below, I discuss some of the basics of Entity Framework (EF) with Mohamood and its benefits as the primary data access framework for .NET developers.

In the second video Faisal provides a real-time demonstration of Model First and creates a rudimentary SQL Azure database without writing any code.  Then we insert and query records utilizing Entity Framework, accomplishing all this in about ten minutes and ten lines of code.  To see all the details, click on “full screen” button in the lower right of the video player.  If you have a fast internet connection you should be able to see everything in full fidelity without pixelation.

Summary

Hopefully the videos in this post illustrate how easy it is to do database development in SQL Azure by utilizing Entity Framework.  Let us know what other topics you’d like us to explore in more depth.  And let us know if video content like this is interesting to you – drop a comment, or use the “Rate This” feature at the beginning of the post.

If you’re interested in learning more, there are some outstanding walkthroughs and learning resources in MSDN, located here.

Make sure to check back, or subscribe to the RSS feed to be alerted as we post more information. Do you have questions, concerns, comments? Post them below and we will try to address them.