I haven’t spent a lot of time on CodePlex until EF got there. So between learning my way around CodePlex and also how the EF team is organizing all of their information, I kept missing key information because I didn’t know where it was tucked away. So I thought I would list what I think are the most important bits in one spot.
1. The main page is at entityframework.codeplex.com.
2. The Roadmap gives a very broad overview of plans for EF.
Currently that lists:
- Async support
- Stored Proc and Function support for Code First and
- Custom Code First Conventions
3. The Specifications provides a list of features that the team is working on and each one links to detailed specs for those items.
Currently the EF6 specs show a more comprehensive list. All but the tooling consolidation have made it into the alpha, though it’s *alpha* so nothing is set in stone yet.
- Task-based Asynchronous Pattern support in EF
- Tooling Consolidation
- Multi-tenant Migrations
- EF Dependency Resolution
- Code-based Configuration
- Migrations History Table Customization
- Custom Code First Conventions
The list currently doesn’t include the Stored Procs & Function support for Code First but those are definitely coming in EF6. This is confirmed in comments of the team’s blog post announcing the EF6 Alpha.
Each item on the list links to the specs for the item which provide some really good detail. You can also add comments here.
Got some free time to sate your curiosity? From what I see on the site these are posted every other week and are very extensive and well organized.
5. Discussions
This is one of the places where you can get very involved and influence the path that EF6 (and beyond) is taking. It is specifically for talking about the open source code base that’s on CodePlex . There are already a lot of very interesting discussions happening. For example, developers working with the team thinking through batch insert support.
There are 4 areas for discussions:
- EF Designer
- EF Power Tools
- EF Runtime
- General
6. Issues
This is where we can provide feedback on things that we’d like to see implemented or problems that need to get fixed. CodePlex provides a great way to filter issues. Go check out what’s there. Vote on things that are important to you. Provide additional feedback.
One of the coolest parts about EF being open source is that you can download the source code. There are nightly builds you can play with. You can fork them if you want. But the absolutely best part is that if you’ve worked something out (perhaps you picked an issue to solve or are pursuing your own awesome idea) you can submit it to be included into the code base.
8. The changeset history on the source code area is fun to look through with details about each commit being made to the source.
This list should get you well on your way to keeping up with what’s going on and hopefully being inspired to contribute ideas, discussion and code to Entity Framework!
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