Testing code that uses EF Core — Entity Framework (EF6 & EF Core)

15. Testing code that uses EF Core

IntermediateMediumLesson 15 of 15

In-Memory provider — fast but not relational (no SQL, no constraints, no transactions); Microsoft discourages it for testing DB behaviour.
SQLite in-memory (DataSource=:memory:) — relational, fast; some SQL Server differences.
Testcontainers with real SQL Server — most accurate; slower startup (share one container per test run, reset with Respawn).
Or hide EF behind repositories and mock those for unit tests of business logic.