👀 Views: 25 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-09-06

C# Entity Framework Core Performance

I'm having a hard time understanding I've been working on this all day and I've been struggling with this for a few days now and could really use some help... Looking to optimize performance in a C# backend service that utilizes Entity Framework Core 6. As part of a larger refactoring effort, I've noticed that some of our queries are running slower than expected, especially during peak load times. For instance, a query fetching user data along with their roles is performing poorly: ```csharp var usersWithRoles = await _context.Users .Include(u => u.Roles) .Where(u => u.IsActive) .ToListAsync(); ``` Profiling the application indicates that the query is causing a significant number of database calls, leading to N+1 issues. In an effort to resolve this, I tried using projections to reduce the amount of data being loaded: ```csharp var usersWithRoles = await _context.Users .Where(u => u.IsActive) .Select(u => new { UserId = u.Id, UserName = u.UserName, Roles = u.Roles.Select(r => r.Name).ToList() }) .ToListAsync(); ``` This approach did improve the response time somewhat, but the overall performance still lags behind our expectations. I'm also considering using explicit loading for scenarios where I only need role data occasionally. Another thought I had was to apply pagination: ```csharp var pagedUsersWithRoles = await _context.Users .Where(u => u.IsActive) .OrderBy(u => u.UserName) .Skip(page * pageSize) .Take(pageSize) .Include(u => u.Roles) .ToListAsync(); ``` However, I’m concerned that using `Include` with pagination might still not yield the performance boost I’m aiming for. During development, I also explored the use of raw SQL queries for critical paths, but transitioning to that feels risky for maintainability. Are there best practices or patterns within Entity Framework Core that I might be overlooking? Any recommendations on optimizing LINQ queries or reducing database round trips effectively would be greatly appreciated. What's the best practice here? Am I missing something obvious? I'm working on a CLI tool that needs to handle this. Thanks, I really appreciate it!