Stored Procedures Outperform EF Core by 3-12x for Data Copy Operations, HackerNoon Report Finds

A recent benchmark published on HackerNoon reveals that SQL stored procedures can execute data copy operations 3 to 12 times faster than Entity Framework (EF) Core, particularly as the number of rows increases. The findings, highlighted in a tweet by HackerNoon, underscore the performance benefits of minimizing database roundtrips and data transfer size. The article, titled "To Sp or Not To Sp" by Pavel Gelver, provides detailed analysis, tools, logs, and charts supporting these claims.

The significant performance improvement observed with stored procedures stems from their ability to execute complex logic directly on the database server. This approach drastically reduces the number of network roundtrips between the application and the database, and minimizes the amount of data transferred, leading to more efficient bulk operations. The tweet specifically noted "fewer roundtrips, fewer bytes" as key factors contributing to the speed advantage.

While EF Core is widely praised for its developer-friendly object-relational mapping capabilities, its default mechanisms for handling large-scale data operations can introduce performance bottlenecks. For instance, standard Add or AddRange methods in EF Core, while batching multiple inserts, may not achieve the raw speed of database-native bulk operations or stored procedures. This is often due to the overhead of change tracking and the generation of more verbose SQL by the ORM.

For scenarios involving massive data inserts, updates, or copies, the .NET community often recommends direct SqlBulkCopy or specialized third-party EF Core bulk extension libraries. These tools bypass some of EF Core's ORM overhead, allowing developers to leverage the underlying database's optimized bulk capabilities. However, for many common CRUD operations and smaller datasets, EF Core continues to offer a compelling balance of productivity and acceptable performance.

The HackerNoon report reinforces the long-standing debate in software architecture regarding the trade-offs between ORM convenience and raw database performance. It suggests that for performance-critical data copy operations, especially with growing data volumes, reverting to optimized stored procedures or direct SQL commands remains a highly effective strategy. The choice between EF Core and stored procedures ultimately depends on the specific application's performance requirements and the scale of data being processed.