Using the Entity Data Model (EDM) to build applications based on the Entity Framework requires writing three XML specifications.

The first specification uses conceptual schema definition language (CSDL) to declare and define the entities, associations, sets, and containers of the object model being designed. The programmable classes are built from this schema.

The second specification in store schema definition language (SSDL) describes the data source that persists data for applications built on the EDM.

The third specification written in mapping specification language (MSL) maps the declarations in the CSDL file to the data source described in the SSDL file.

These schemas and the mapping specification that connects them are written in XML. The topics in this section provide the details of CSDL, SSDL, and MSL, and include examples demonstrating how the sets and containers in each file are connected to implement a programmable object model.

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