specification-pattern

The specification pattern lets you compose query criteria outside your repository by defining expression-based filters, includes, and pagination. This keeps repositories thin and makes query intent explicit and reusable across your .NET application code.

You can implement eager loading and pagination on IQueryable data by defining a specification class with typed Include expressions and Skip/Take properties. Pass this specification to your repository methods to apply the composed query criteria directly to your EF Core data provider.

The specification pattern in domain-driven design is a reusable abstraction that encapsulates complex query logic for domain entities. It allows you to define expression-based criteria, ordering, and eager-loading rules that can be composed and applied to IQueryable data in your repository layer.

Yes, you can use string paths for navigation property loading. The implementation supports both typed include expressions and IncludeStrings, providing flexible options for eager-loading navigation properties when defining your query specifications.

Yes, the specification pattern implementation supports sorting through OrderBy and OrderByDescending properties. You can encapsulate sorting logic alongside filtering, eager-loading, and pagination within a single reusable specification class for your domain entities.

When using expression trees for EF Core query composition, you are constrained by what the database provider can translate. Complex criteria or unsupported methods in your expression-based specifications may not translate to valid SQL, limiting their use in infrastructure code.