African Journal of Advanced Pure and

Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)

Online ISSN: 2957-644X
Volume 3, Issue 1, January-March 2024, Page No: 11-15
Website: https://aaasjournals.com/index.php/ajapas/index
)1.55( :2023 ‫معامل التأثير العربي‬ SJIFactor 2023: 5.689 ISI 2022-2023: 0.557

Comparative Analysis of ADO.NET and Entity Framework

Performance Evaluation in Database Operations
Abdullah Abdalsalam Abdasameea 1*, Tahr Salem Daduch 2, Husayn Mansour Isbeeqah 3,
Hadeeyah Mohammed Shakeeb 4
1,2,3,4 Computer Department, Faculty of Education, Alasmarya Islamic University, Zliten, Libya

*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Received: October 30, 2023 Accepted: December 27, 2023 Published: January 10, 2024
Abstract:
This paper aims to compare the performance of ADO.NET and Entity Framework in various database operations,
including insert, update, delete, and retrieve. The study investigates the execution times of these operations and
analyzes the findings to determine the efficiency of each technology.
The research findings reveal that ADO.NET consistently outperforms Entity Framework in terms of execution
time for insert, update, and delete operations. ADO.NET demonstrates faster execution times, indicating its
effectiveness and efficiency in handling these database tasks. However, in the retrieve operation, Entity
Framework unexpectedly demonstrates superior performance, suggesting its efficacy in retrieving data.
These results emphasize the importance of considering the specific requirements and performance characteristics
of ADO.NET and Entity Framework when choosing the appropriate technology for different database tasks.
Organizations and developers need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each technology based on their
specific needs.
Further research and analysis are necessary to delve deeper into the underlying factors contributing to the
performance differences observed in this study. This research provides valuable insights into the performance
comparison of ADO.NET and Entity Framework and serves as a foundation for future investigations in this area,
facilitating informed decision-making in database technology selection.

Keywords: Ado.net, Entity Framework, Database, Performance

Cite this article as: A. A. Abdasameea, T. S. Daduch, H. M. Isbeeqah, H. M. Shakeeb, “Comparative Analysis
of ADO.NET and Entity Framework Performance Evaluation in Database Operations,” African Journal of
Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS), vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 11–15, January-March 2024.
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee
Publisher’s Note: African Academy of Advanced
African Journal of Advanced Pure and
Studies – AAAS stays neutral with regard to
Applied Sciences (AJAPAS), Libya. This
jurisdictional claims in published maps and
article is an open access article distributed under the terms
institutional affiliations.
and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC
BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

‫) لتقييم األداء في عمليات قواعد‬Entity Framework(‫) و‬ADO.NET( ‫مقارنه تحليلية بين‬

‫البيانات‬
4‫اشكيب‬ ‫ هدية محمد‬،3 ‫ حسين منصور اسبيقه‬،2‫ طاهر سالم دعدوش‬،*1‫عبدهللا عبدالسالم عبدالسميع‬
‫ ليبيا‬،‫ زليتن‬،‫ الجامعة األسمرية اإلسالمية‬،‫ كلية التربية‬،‫ قسم الحاسوب‬1,2,3,4
‫الملخص‬
،‫ في عمليات قاعدة البيانات المختلفة‬Entity Framework ‫ و‬ADO.NET ‫تهدف هذه الورقة البحثية إلى مقارنة أداء تقنيتي‬
‫ تبحث الدراسة في سرعة اختالف تنفيذ هذه العمليات وتحليل‬.‫بما في ذلك اإلدراج والتحديث والحذف واالسترجاع للبيانات‬
.‫النتائج لتحديد كفاءة كل تقنية‬

11 | African Journal of Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)

‫ من حيث سرعة التنفيذ لعمليات اإلدراج‬Entity Framework ‫ كل مرة على‬ADO.NET ‫تشير نتائج البحث بتفوق‬
‫ تتفوق‬Entity Framework ‫ غير أن‬.‫ مما يشير إلى فعاليته وكفاءته في التعامل مع مهام قواعد البيانات‬،‫والتحديث والحذف‬
.‫ مما يشير إلى فعاليته في استرداد البيانات‬،‫في عملية استرجاع البيانات بشكل غير متوقع‬
.‫ال تقوم هذه الورقة بتفضيل تقنية على أخرى بل يتم تحديدها من خالل نوع العمليات السائدة في النظام المستهدف انشاؤه‬
.‫وعلى المطورين مراعات الموازنة بين مزايا وعيوب كل تقنية بنا ًء على احتياجاتهم الخاصة‬
‫ ويعمل كأساس للتحقيقات المستقبلية‬Entity Framework ‫ و‬ADO.NET ‫يوفر هذا البحث رؤى قيمة حول مقارنة أداء‬
.‫ مما يسهل اتخاذ قرارات مستنيرة في اختيار تقنيات االتصال بقواعد البيانات‬،‫في هذا المجال‬

.‫ األداء‬،‫ قاعدة البيانات‬،Entity Framework ،ADO.NET :‫الكلمات المفتاحية‬

Introduction
In terms of development aspects, every information communication technology application or system is built on
the fundamental and underlying activities of access, transit, storage, and data manipulation. One of the data-
processing technologies must be chosen in order to enable database linking of the application during development.
ADO.NET and Entity Framework are two of the most important Microsoft technologies for data access in software
development. [1]
ADO.NET and Entity Framework are two of Microsoft's Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) frameworks that
enable .NET developers to work with relational database systems. While the two frameworks have some overlap
in their capabilities
The ADO.NET framework provides a low-level API to interact with databases through queries and stored
procedures. It requires developers to handle most of the complexities of object-oriented paradigms like SQL query
generations, caching, and change tracking. The Entity Framework, on the other hand, provides a higher level of
abstraction with an object-oriented paradigm. It handles many ORM complexities under the hood and exposes
entities and relationships in code. The Entity Framework's level of abstraction allows for the rapid development
of database-driven applications. [1]
It is essential for software developers who work with data to understand the differences and similarities between
these two technologies. This paper aims to assist developers in making knowledgeable decisions when choosing
a data access technology for their projects by offering a comparative analysis of ado.net and entity framework.
The approaches for including databases in the project are discussed.
The main tasks for a data-oriented application are CRUD operations (creating, reading, updating, and deleting)
[2]. Both Entity Framework and ADO.NET are in charge of these activities. Code execution speed was measured
with these fundamental operations.

Material and methods

1. Ado.net
ADO.NET is a data access technology that is used to interact with databases in the Microsoft .NET Framework.
It provides a consistent interface for accessing data from different types of data sources, including SQL Server,
Oracle, MySQL, and others. ADO.NET is designed to provide high-performance data access, with support for
both connected and disconnected data access scenarios. [3][4]
• Connected Architecture: The Connected Architecture of ADO.NET refers to a scenario where the
application maintains a continuous connection to the database. In this architecture, the application opens
a connection to the database, executes SQL commands against the database, and then closes the
connection. This architecture is suitable for scenarios where the application needs to maintain a
continuous connection to the database, and the data is accessed frequently. [1][4]
• Disconnected Architecture: The Disconnected Architecture of ADO.NET refers to a scenario where the
application connects to the database, retrieves data from the database, and then disconnects from the
database. In this architecture, the application retrieves data from the database and stores it locally in a
dataset or data table. The application can then manipulate the data locally without requiring a continuous
connection to the database. This architecture is suitable for scenarios where the data is accessed
infrequently or where the application needs to work with data offline.[1][4]

In this paper, as far as ADO.NET is concerned, the connected architecture was used for the development of the
application

2. The Entity Framework

Entity Framework is an Object Relational Mapper (ORM) developed by Microsoft, which enables developers to
work with relational data using business models. It eliminates the need for developers to write low-level data
access code with ADO.NET by providing a complete, model-based system. The framework has evolved

12 | African Journal of Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)

significantly since its first release, Entity Framework 3.5, which was included in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and
Visual Studio 2008 SP1. With the current version being 6.0, Entity Framework simplifies the creation of a data
access layer by providing an abstraction layer that removes the need for writing repetitive data access code for
each domain model. [1][6][7]

Entity Framework facilitates the creation of a data access layer by allowing data access and describing the data as
a conceptual model, that is, a set of entities and relationships. The application can handle basic CRUD (create,
read, update, and delete) actions as well as one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships between
entities. [1][5]

Entity Framework supports three primary approaches to building the Entity Data Model (EDM).
• The Database First approach is used when working with an existing database schema. In this approach,
the EDM is generated from the database schema, which provides a convenient way to build applications
that rely on an existing database. [1][5]
• On the other hand, the Code First approach involves writing domain models as classes, which form the
basis of the EDM. The database schema is then generated from these models. This approach is ideal for
applications that are highly domain-centric and where the domain models are created first, with the
database serving as a persistence mechanism. [1][5]
• Finally, the Model First approach is similar to Code First, but with the added benefit of a visual EDM
designer. The EDM is visually designed by using this tool, and the database schema and classes are
generated based on the conceptual model. This approach also provides SQL statements needed to create
the database, which can be used to connect the application to the database.[1][5]

In this paper, as far as Database First is concerned, the Database First approach was used for the development of
the application

3. Application
The application was used in the College of Education Alsmarya Islamic University. It was created with Visual
Studio 2015 with C# programming language as an integrated development environment (IDE) and Microsoft SQL
Server Management Studio 2017 for the database. The application's goal is to make it easier to work at the College
of Education by creating a study plan that takes into account the lack of conflict in the halls. The following are
the application's features:
● Access to the system is granted through the department heads, and each department head is only
authorized to interact with data pertaining to his department.
● Faculty member’s data can be added, viewed, modified, and deleted by the Head of Department.
● The system administrator is granted the following rights:
• Payment for new users
• See the complete department schedule.
• Add, change, or remove classroom data. Add, update, or delete classroom data using hall data.
Course information
• The department head is the only person who may add, show, alter, or delete lectures from the academic
schedule.
● When adding a lecture, it is confirmed that it is not being used form another department at the same time
● Print the academic timetable by department
● Print the academic schedule for the college
● Determine the hall's vacant times using its number.

Information on the device used in the comparison

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Processor Intel(R) Core (TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz, 2201 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical
Processor(s)BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A07, 10/16/2015
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB

4. Diagram for database

13 | African Journal of Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)

 Figure 1: Diagram for database.

5. IDE Microsoft Visual Studio

Microsoft's Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE). It includes a comprehensive collection
of software development tools and functions such as code editing, debugging, testing, and deployment. Visual
Studio supports a wide range of programming languages, including C#, C++, Python, JavaScript, and many more,
making it a powerful tool for a wide range of development tasks.
Developers can use Visual Studio to efficiently write, edit, and manage code. It has powerful code editing tools
including syntax highlighting, code completion, and intelligent code suggestions that assist enhance productivity
and reduce errors. The IDE also provides debugging tools that allow developers to find and solve bugs in their
code while it is being developed. [8]

The Methodological Framework of The Research

The comparison was conducted by measuring the execution speed of various operations, including insert, update,
delete, and retrieve, using both ADO.NET and Entity Framework. The lecturers' table was used as an example.
Note that the table has a relationship with the following tables (users, department, and academic schedule)
The execution times in milliseconds were converted to seconds and recorded for each operation, and the average
execution speed was calculated. All operations.

Entity Framework Ado.net

No insert update delete retrieve insert update delete retrieve
1 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.010 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.011
2 0.004 0.003 0.004 0.008 0.002 0.003 0.003 0.010
3 0.005 0.006 0.005 0.009 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.010
4 0.085 0.011 0.004 0.005 0.001 0.004 0.004 0.015
5 0.011 0.050 0.011 0.007 0.002 0.003 0.001 0.010
6 0.006 0.006 0.005 0.006 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.011
7 0.004 0.004 0.003 0.012 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.009
8 0.006 0.006 0.005 0.008 0.003 0.004 0.001 0.008
9 0.004 0.005 0.003 0.008 0.002 0.003 0.002 0.010
10 0.006 0.012 0.003 0.005 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.008
AVG 0.136 0.109 0.05 0.078 0.018 0.027 0.023 0.102

14 | African Journal of Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)

Results and discussion
The research findings reveal interesting insights into the performance comparison between Entity Framework and
ADO.NET for various database operations. The measurements conducted in this study provide valuable data on
the average execution times of insert, update, delete, and retrieve operations for both technologies.
When analyzing the insert operation, it is evident that ADO.NET achieved an impressive execution time of 0.018
seconds, while Entity Framework took an average of 0.136 seconds. This highlights the superior performance of
ADO.NET in terms of database inserts.
Moving on to the update operation, Entity Framework recorded an average execution time of 0.109 seconds,
whereas ADO.NET exhibited better efficiency with an average time of 0.027 seconds. This demonstrates that
ADO.NET excels as a data updater, providing faster execution for update operations.
Regarding the delete operation, ADO.NET showcased faster execution times with an average of 0.023 seconds,
whereas Entity Framework took 0.05 seconds on average. These results reaffirm the performance advantage of
ADO.NET in database deletions.
Interestingly, the retrieve operation showcased a different outcome. Despite ADO.NET's overall superiority in
other operations, Entity Framework displayed slightly better performance in retrieval tasks. However, the
difference in execution times between the two technologies was not significant.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the research findings indicate that ADO.NET outperforms Entity Framework in terms of execution
time for the insert, update, and delete operations. ADO.NET consistently exhibited faster execution times
compared to Entity Framework, showcasing its efficiency in handling these database operations. However, in the
retrieve operation, Entity Framework unexpectedly demonstrated superior performance with its average execution
time, suggesting its effectiveness in retrieving data. These results highlight the importance of considering the
specific requirements and performance characteristics of each technology when choosing between ADO.NET and
Entity Framework for different database tasks. Further research and analysis are necessary to delve deeper into
the factors influencing the performance differences observed in this study.
References
[1] ILIĆ, Miloš, et al. "The difference between ado. net and entity framework in software development." Annals
of the University of Oradea: Facsicle of Management & Technological Engineering 2 (2021).
[2] Blakeley, J. A., Muralidhar, S., & Nori, A. V. (2006). The ADO.NET Entity Framework: making the
conceptual level real. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (pp. 552–565).
https://doi.org/10.1007/11901181_42
[3] Mcleblanc (no date) Overview - ADO.NET, Overview - ADO.NET | Microsoft Learn. Available at:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/data/adonet/ado-net-overview (Accessed: 06 December
2023).
[4] Dot Net Tutorials About the Author: Pranaya RoutPranaya Rout has published more than 3 (2023)
Introduction to ADO.NET, Dot Net Tutorials. Available at: https://dotnettutorials.net/lesson/what-is-ado-net/
(Accessed: 06 December 2023).
[5] Mcleblanc (no date a) Architecture - ADO.NET, Architecture - ADO.NET | Microsoft Learn. Available at:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/data/adonet/ado-net-architecture (Accessed: 01
December 2023).
[6] Sheta , A. M., et al. (2017). A Comparative Study between ADO.NET and Entity Framework. International
Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, 43(4), 204-209.
[7] Mcleblanc. (2021a, September 15). Entity Framework Overview - ADO.NET. Microsoft Learn.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/data/adonet/ef/overview
[8] Anandmeg (no date) What is Visual Studio?, Microsoft Learn. Available at: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-
us/visualstudio/get-started/visual-studio-ide?view=vs-2022 (Accessed: 01 December 2023).

15 | African Journal of Advanced Pure and Applied Sciences (AJAPAS)