I’m getting a lot of folks asking me about the announcement that EF7 will focus on code first and there will be no support in EF7 for designer based EF models.

I’ll give my two cents, even though I do think the EF team has been pretty clear about this in both their blog post about EF7 plans 

EF7 – New Platforms, New Data Stores

and in Rowan Miller’s TechEd talk where he devoted the last 20 minutes to early look at early bits and early thoughts about EF7

Entity Framework: Building Applications with Entity Framework 6

Here’s the scoop: EF6 and the designer will continue to be available and worked on but the big effort will go into EF7 going forward. Personally, I can’t promise it will be around 10 years from now so please don’t bang down my door in 2024.

I’ve also been asked: “should I bother learning about the EDMX since it will not be in EF7?” I firmly believe that learning a bit about modeling via the designer helps get some of the concepts across for if/when you do code first modeling.

Also don’t forget about some of the 3rd party tools that provide designer support such as LLBLGenPro, Huagati Tools,  and DevArt’s Entity Developer. I’m guessing they will be moving their tools forward, though I haven’t looked into it yet.