implementing Lazy Loading in Entity Framework Core 7 Causing NullReferenceException on Navigation Properties
Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm currently working on a project using Entity Framework Core 7, where I have a `Product` entity that has a navigation property to `Category`. I have set up lazy loading, and while it generally works, I occasionally encounter a `NullReferenceException` when trying to access the `Category` property of a `Product` that has not been explicitly loaded. The behavior message states `Object reference not set to an instance of an object`. Here's a simplified version of my `Product` class: ```csharp public class Product { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public virtual Category Category { get; set; } } ``` And my `Category` class: ```csharp public class Category { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public ICollection<Product> Products { get; set; } } ``` In my `DbContext`, I've configured lazy loading like this: ```csharp public class MyDbContext : DbContext { public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; } public DbSet<Category> Categories { get; set; } protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder) { modelBuilder.Entity<Product>().Navigation(p => p.Category).UseLazyLoading(); } } ``` While accessing the `Category` property in my code: ```csharp using (var context = new MyDbContext()) { var product = context.Products.Find(1); Console.WriteLine(product.Category.Name); } ``` This line sometimes throws the `NullReferenceException` even though I expect the `Category` to be loaded. I've tried checking if the `Category` property is null before accessing it, but I would prefer not to have to do that everywhere. Could this be a configuration scenario on my part, or is there something else I should be considering to ensure that the navigation properties are loaded properly when using lazy loading? I'm working on a API that needs to handle this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!