I am a Full Stack .NET Developer – Part 5 (EF and SQL)

Enough about traditional backend for .NET web development. Let's focus on what to expect from the storage and communication side. It’s my understanding that when people talk about your Full Stack .NET Development they implicitly expect at least moderate level understanding of SQL objects and Entity Framework (code-first is the priority). It’s not possible to draw the entire picture for both EF and SQL server here, but the following can be a good way to impress most of the interviewers.

Basic EF: Most people are enthusiastic about your practical experience using EF – not the depth of it. Basic areas touched – what is EF, what are different strategies in EF (code first, database first, model first), how to use migration, fluent API, data validation, configuring different relationships. Helpful reference: (1) Basics of Entity Framework (2) Entity Framework Code-First (3) Pro C# 5.0 and the .NET 4.5 Framework – 6th Edition, by Andrew Troelsen (Chapter 23) (4) Relationship in Entity Framework Using Code-First (5) Programming Entity Framework Code First, by Julia Lerman

Related Data Loading in EF: I got this topic in almost all interviews who touched EF. If you can describe all the three ways (eager, lazy, explicit loading) clearly, they become impressed. Helpful reference: Reading Related Data with Entity Framework

Concurrency Conflicts in EF: I saw some interviewers interested in EF concurrency conflicts, even asked the specific exception name. Basic idea should be good, because there are not many people who care about this high level topic. Helpful reference: (1) Handling Concurrency with Entity Framework (2) Concurrency in Entity Framework

EF Inheritance: I don’t see people engage into this area much, but a good understanding can be helpful to prove your strength. Helpful reference: (1) Inheritance Strategy in Code-First (2) Entity Framework Designer TPH Inheritance (3) Entity Framework Designer TPT Inheritance

SQL Basics and Objects: Almost all of the interviewers want to exercise your basic SQL knowledge. You are not expected to be a DBA, but when you say full stack, you should justify that you have created and used most DB objects like Stored Procedure, Function, View, Triggers, Index, Transaction, Normalization, Exception, Temp Table, Cursor. Helpful reference: (1) SQL Syntax (2) SQL Tutorial (3) Stored Procedures in Sql Server (part 18 – 21, 30 – 47, 52, 53, 55 – 58, 63)

Constraints and SQL Joins: A very common area in SQL related discussion – different types of constraints, differences among them, and common joins. Helpful reference: (1) SQL Constraints (2) SQL JOIN

SQL Query: Sometimes people don’t spend time talking about different objects in SQL. They want to test all your SQL skills by a simple Query – if you are picking correct operators, appropriate Joins, GROUP BY, HAVING, LIKE. I believe you don’t have enough patients practicing SQL queries as a .NET developer, but carefully follow the examples while reading/preparing about the SQL objects.