Programming Archives - Jonathan Crozier

Maximize .NET LINQ performance using ZLinq

LINQ is one of the standout features of .NET and is loved by many C# developers, for whom it has become second nature in their day-to-day work. The declarative nature of LINQ allows for expressive queries over collections to be composed, resulting in highly readable and maintainable code. However, while LINQ provides powerful abstractions and…

.NET Run File: Run C# code with no project file!

InProgramming Scripting

The world of .NET is in a constant state of evolution, with the pace of framework improvements steadily increasing, especially following the advent of the cross-platform .NET Core in 2016. Over the past few years, Microsoft has been working hard to increase the adoption of the C# language among new software developers, who often choose languages…

Exploring SQL Server JSON mapping support in Entity Framework Core 9

InProgramming SQL

JSON is a ubiquitous format for defining structured data, and it is increasingly common to see it being stored directly in databases that are primarily relational in nature. Over the past several years, Entity Framework Core has steadily improved its support for JSON, culminating in first-class JSON mapping support in EF Core 8 and EF…

Operating on data via a SQL Server Stored Procedure efficiently with Table-Valued Parameters using C#

InProgramming SQL

Sometimes when developing an application that interacts with SQL Server, you may find the need to process a data set such that only one round trip needs to be made to and from the database server. The operation that is being carried out may be intended to operate on one set of data, or batches…

How to dynamically build OR filters in an Entity Framework Core LINQ query

InProgramming

Entity Framework Core is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) that allows us to leverage LINQ (Language Integrated Query) to abstract away the SQL (Structured Query Language) that would otherwise need to be written for interactions with a database. However, while LINQ is an awesome .NET feature, there are some limitations to be aware of when…

How to catch and parse a SQL Server Duplicate Key Exception

InProgramming SQL

When developing an application that connects to a SQL Server (or Azure SQL) database, you will often want to leverage the features that the database engine provides to help minimise checks that would otherwise need to be performed at the application level. By delegating these checks to the database, you can simplify your application logic,…

How to publish a .NET application as a standalone executable file

InProgramming

When you need to create a .NET application that can be easily deployed to a system without worrying about the installed .NET version or other dependencies, the publishing options that have been made available since .NET Core 3.0 are most welcome. If you are publishing a modern .NET application today, not only is it possible…

How to paste JSON as Classes in Visual Studio: A hidden gem!

InProgramming Tools

In the increasingly fast-paced world of software development, efficiency is a critical factor for success in the marketplace. Visual Studio, Microsoft’s flagship IDE (Integrated Development Environment), is packed full of features designed to make your programming experience as productive as possible. Among these is a lesser-known feature that is extremely useful; the ability to paste…

A better way to convert enums to strings with Entity Framework Core

InProgramming

By default, Entity Framework Core stores and retrieves .NET enumerations as their underlying integer values for SQL databases, primarily for performance and storage optimization reasons. Nevertheless, if there is a requirement to store enums within your data model as strings at the database level, it is important to have a suitable way to configure this…

Converting CSV files with values containing commas to JSON using C#

InProgramming

CSV (Comma-separated values) remains an extremely popular file format, and, in the context of programming, it is particularly useful for importing and exporting data between different software applications. One of the issues with CSV, or any other delimiter-separated file format, is that often the values that need to be parsed into separate ‘parts’ will contain…

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