Can I use Entity Framework or Linq To SQL with Windows 8 Metro Style apps?

Question

I\'m looking for some kind of ORM that can be used with Metro Style apps. I found lots of posts referring to different SQLite implementations that seem to be working (or not

Answer 1

As far as I know it is not possible because .NET for Metro doesn't even have System.Data namespace and all required classes for accessing databases.

Answer 2

As Ladislav says, it is currently not possible. You can, however, use WCF Data Services (OData) on the WinRT platform. For more information, see Phani's post on Developing Windows 8 Metro style applications that consume OData.

Answer 3

I'm currently using SQLite on a C# Windows 8 Metro App using the code from an experimental branch as explained by Tim Heuer in this post (there's also a video), and it is working great, and it will pass the store certification (Tim Heuer also mentions it in the post).

It is not Entity Framework, but it is the best we have available so far for working with local databases.

Other alternatives:

• IndexedDB (It's an HTML5 feature, so it is only for HTML5 apps)
• SQLite - AFAIK it works, but doesn't pass the store certification yet
• WinRT File Based Database - Interesting, though not as performant as SQLite
• Siaqodb - Interesting. Didn't test it yet
• Sterling NoSQL OODB - Doesn't support WinRT just yet, but should not be difficult to port... I expect a release soon. It is NoSQL, though.