Code-First vs Database-First

Intermediate Updated May 20, 2025

📊 Code-First vs Database-First

| Feature                   | Code-First                         | Database-First                     |
|---------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| Approach                  | Write C# classes                   | Reverse engineer from DB           |
| Suitable for              | New projects                       | Existing databases                 |
| Schema Control            | Controlled via code                | Controlled via DB                  |
| Tooling                   | dotnet ef migrations               | dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold       |
| Customization Flexibility | High                               | Medium                             |