Top 5 Features of Entity Framework Core 6

EF Core 6 ships with .NET 6 and brings several performance and usability improvements. Here are the highlights.

1. Compiled Models

Pre-compile your model to avoid expensive startup reflection.

dotnet ef dbcontext optimize

2. Temporal Tables (SQL Server)

modelBuilder.Entity<Employee>()
    .ToTable("Employees", b => b.IsTemporal());

3. Pre-Convention Model Configuration

Apply conventions like “all strings max 256” globally.

4. Migration Bundles

Package migrations as executables for CI/CD.

5. Raw SQL Queries

Execute raw SQL returning unmapped types.

Key Takeaways

• Use **Compiled Models** for apps with large schemas.
• Use **Temporal Tables** for audit trails without custom code.