Dapper vs EF Core: Understanding When to Use Each

While designing application we need to understand which we should use and what are use cases, it is very critical to decide based on nature of requirements

Both Dapper and Entity Framework Core (EF Core) are popular Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) libraries for .NET, but they serve different purposes and have distinct strengths.

Dapper

Dapper is a micro ORM that focuses on high performance and simplicity. It maps the results of SQL queries to C# objects, but unlike EF Core, it does not provide advanced features such as change tracking or LINQ-based querying.

Key points

Performance: Dapper is known for its speed. It’s a lightweight library that doesn’t add much overhead, making it great for performance-critical applications where raw speed matters.

Control: Dapper gives you direct control over your SQL queries, making it easier for developers to optimize them for specific database scenarios.

Code Examples

public async Task<Account> GetAccountAsync(Guid accountId)
    {
        using (var connection = new SqlConnection(_connectionString))
        {
            var sql = "SELECT * FROM Accounts WHERE AccountId = @AccountId";
            return await connection.QuerySingleOrDefaultAsync<Account>(sql, new { AccountId = accountId });
        }
    }

Real-World Use Cases for Dapper:

1. High-Performance Data Retrieval: If your application needs to handle high-throughput operations, such as querying large datasets or making many database calls, Dapper’s minimal overhead and speed would be ideal.

Example: Real-time analytics applications that need to query and process large volumes of data in real time, such as financial dashboards or e-commerce websites with heavy traffic.

2. Read-Only Operations: When your application only needs to fetch data without performing complex operations, Dapper excels.

Example: Building APIs for querying a public catalog (e.g., an online store’s product catalog) where the focus is on retrieving data without the need for full CRUD operations.

3.Complex SQL Queries: When your queries are too complex for LINQ or require very fine-tuned SQL (e.g., custom joins, aggregations), Dapper allows you to write the SQL exactly as needed.

Example: Reporting services that need to execute complex SQL queries involving joins, window functions, or other advanced SQL features that EF Core may not easily support.

Click here to see complete tutorial

Comments

[Oleksandr Viktor]

yes Dapper the best
but next new package UkrGuru.Sql can do same speed in Sql Server

(await _db.ReadAsync<Account>("SELECT * FROM Accounts WHERE AccountId = @Data", accountId)).FirstOrDefault();

4 files of code all that needed know...
github.com/UkrGuru/Sql/tree/main/src