Entity Framework (EF) was first released as part of the .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 back in late 2008. Since then, it has evolved, as Microsoft has observed how programmers use an object-relational mapping (ORM) tool in the real world.
ORMs use a mapping definition to associate columns in tables to properties in classes. Then, a programmer can just interact with objects of different types in a way that they are familiar, instead of having to deal with knowing how to store the values in a table structure.
The version included with .NET Framework is Entity Framework 6 (EF6). It is mature, stable, and supports an old EDMX (XML file) way of defining the model as well as complex inheritance models, and a few other advanced features. However, EF6 is only supported by .NET Framework, not by .NET Core.
The cross-platform version, EF Core, is different. Microsoft has named it that way to emphasize that it is a reset of functionality. Although EF Core has a...