dotnet-testing-advanced-testcontainers-database

You can test EF Core against a real database by using Testcontainers to spin up actual SQL Server or PostgreSQL instances within Docker. This approach validates your data access layer against live database behavior rather than simulating it with an in-memory provider.

The best way to speed up .NET integration tests is to use the Collection Fixture pattern to share a single Testcontainers database instance across multiple test classes. This significantly reduces test run times by avoiding the overhead of starting a new container for each test.

Yes, you can use Testcontainers to test Dapper data access layers in .NET. The Skill supports spinning up real SQL Server and PostgreSQL database instances within Docker, allowing you to validate both EF Core and Dapper implementations against live databases.

Yes, you need Docker to run .NET integration tests with Testcontainers. The framework automates the startup, configuration, and cleanup of database containers, which requires a Docker environment to provision and manage the real SQL Server or PostgreSQL instances.

You can execute SQL scripts for schema setup and data seeding by integrating external SQL scripts into your test lifecycle. The Skill supports running these scripts against the Testcontainers database instance to prepare your testing environment.