Introduction To ADO.NET

ADO.NET provides a bridge between the front end controls and the back end database. The ADO.NET objects encapsulate all the data access operations and the controls interact with these objects to display data, thus hiding the details of movement of data.


Databases only understand SQL. If a .NET application (Web, Windows, Console etc..) has to retrieve data, then the application needs to

1. Connect to the Database
2. Prepare an SQL Command
3. Execute the Command
4. Retrieve the results and display in the application

The following namespaces are required to enable the use of databases in ASP.NET pages:

• The System.Data namespace.
• The System.Data.OleDb namespace (to use any data provider, such as Access, Oracle)
• The System.Data.SQLClient namespace (specifically to use SQL as the data provider) 

Data Access Object Architecture

In order to connect or communicate front end of the Application to the database, we have two different types of data access architecture, which acts as a mediator or an interface between the two components They are given below.

1. Connected oriented architecture.
2. Disconnected oriented architecture.