XAF — Entity Framework Core 8 Support and Updated Performance Benchmarks for .NET 8

Great news for customers using Entity Framework Core (EF Core): XAF v23.2.4+ and associated Backend Web API Service include preview (CTP) support of EF Core 8. We intentionally added support for EF Core 8 in v23.2.4+ to solicit feedback before official release in 4 months (EF Core 8 support will officially ship in v24.1). 

We also updated our performance benchmarks for EF Core 8 vs XPO ORM. Kudos to Microsoft with .NET 8 - noticeable speed enhancements as compared to .NET 6-7 (and older EF Core versions). For more information about recent EF Core updates, refer to the following Microsoft document: What's New in EF Core 8.

Getting Started with XAF

If you have not heard of XAF before, XAF is a .NET application framework that helps you build powerful Office-inspired line-of-business apps with DevExpress Blazor and WinForms UI components (using Entity Framework or XPO ORM). We often call XAF the "Fastest App UI Builder for EF Core ORM", because it allows you to progress from a C# entity class to powerful Web, Desktop, and Mobile UI forms in minutes using its integrated Solution Wizard and built-in modules such as Validation, Reporting, Scheduler, Office, Dashboards, etc.

For complex enterprise-level usage scenarios, XAF ships the Multi-Tenancy, Audit Trail, and Security System modules. Built-in security features include:

• Role-based access control (RBAC) including type, record, and field-level permissions (learn more). You can manage users and roles at runtime using XAF's administrative UI/ portal for Blazor, WinForms, and WebForms (or in code manually).
• Flexible authentication strategies including Microsoft Entra ID (former Azure Active Directory), Google, and other OAuth2 providers (learn more). The XAF login form automatically renders UI controls based on authentication settings you specified in the Solution Wizard (or in code manually).
  
• Middle Tier application server for modern desktop, web and mobile apps (learn more). EF Core developers can retain their standard DbContext and initiate remote connections to a data store from any .NET client (like XAF WinForms or even non-XAF apps). This capability is critical within certain environments/business apps (those that cannot maintain direct database connections because of security considerations).

Thanks,
Dennis Garavsky
Principal Product Manager
dennis@devexpress.com

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