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Learn how Dapper allows you to access your database without explicitly opening a connection. Discover the internal mechanics and the best practices when using Dapper in your C# applications.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/66161571/ asked by the user 'Rahul Sharma' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1807452/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/66162318/ provided by the user 'Caius Jard' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1410664/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Accessing the Database with Dapper: No Open Connection Required!

As C# developers, we often work with databases, and we rely on various libraries to execute our queries efficiently. One such library is Dapper—a lightweight ORM that can simplify our data access needs. However, an interesting question arose: Can we access a database without explicitly opening a connection using Dapper? Let’s delve into this concept and understand how it works.

The Problem: Confusion with Connection State

In a recent scenario, a developer encountered unexpected behavior while querying a database using Dapper. The primary concern was as follows:

Using the code snippet below, the developer found that they could retrieve data from the database even when the connection was in a Closed state.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The developer noticed that when the conn.Open(); line was commented out, the connection state was still Closed, yet data retrieval still succeeded.

The Solution: How Dapper Handles Connection States

To clarify this perplexing issue, we need to look deeper into Dapper's implementation. Here's a simplified version of how Dapper processes your queries:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Insights

Connection Management:

If you pass a connection that is already open, Dapper simply uses it without modification.

If the connection is closed, Dapper will open it, execute the query, and close it again before returning the data.

Automatic Opening and Closing:

This automatic management of connection state by Dapper allows for seamless interaction with the database without having to manually open and close connections each time.

Best Practices: Using using Statements

While it's intriguing that Dapper effectively handles connection states, using the using statement still holds value in ensuring optimal resource management. Here’s why you should continue using it:

Readability: The using statement keeps your code clean and easy to read, clarifying the lifespan of discrete objects.

Defined Scope: It limits the object scope, making it evident when an object is no longer available.

Future-Proofing: Despite Dapper's handling, using using can prevent potential bugs in the future, especially if other database connection methods might be introduced or copied over.

Why else is it useful?

It prevents resource leaks. If another user decides to interact directly with the connection, the potential oversight of forgetting to close it could lead to issues.

You may not always know what additional actions the Dispose method might perform, and it's wise to adhere to established best practices.

Conclusion

Dapper’s design alleviates the need to manually manage connection states by automatically opening and closing connections as necessary. This functionality makes it an appealing choice for developers who want to streamline database interactions. By adhering to best practices such as using the using statement, you can further safeguard your applications against resource management issues.

With Dapper simplifying database queries, you can focus on what matters most—building great applications!

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