As developers, we love local development environments —no network latency, no connection strings with passwords, and zero risk of accidentally deleting production data.
Server=(localdb)\MyEcommerceApp;Database=MyShopDb;Trusted_Connection=true; "ConnectionStrings": "DefaultConnection": "Server=(localdb)\\MyEcommerceApp;Database=MyShopDb;Trusted_Connection=true;" sqllocaldb
But for most .NET apps, you can simply use: As developers, we love local development environments —no
But what about SQL Server? Installing the full SQL Server Developer Edition is great, but it can be heavy. Spinning up a Docker container is nice, but requires Docker and resource overhead. Spinning up a Docker container is nice, but
Enter . If you build .NET applications (or any app needing a real SQL Server), this tool is a hidden gem you need in your toolbox. What is SqlLocalDb? SqlLocalDb is a lightweight, user-mode instance of SQL Server Express. It was introduced with SQL Server 2012 LocalDB.
sqllocaldb create MyFirstDB sqllocaldb start MyFirstDB sqllocaldb query MyFirstDB "SELECT @@VERSION" You’ll be surprised how easy real SQL Server can be. Have a favorite SqlLocalDb trick? Share it in the comments!