How to Make Database Queries Easier to Debug

ORM query behaving differently than expected?

Look at the generated SQL.

In EF Core, you can inspect a query with:

var query = context.Orders
    .Where(x => x.Status == OrderStatus.Completed)
    .OrderByDescending(x => x.CreatedAt);

var sql = query.ToQueryString();

How to Make Database Queries Easier to Debug

Generated SQL helps you see:

Which columns are selected
Which joins were generated
Where filters are applied
How ordering works
Whether the query matches your assumptions

LINQ is convenient, but the database still executes SQL.

When a database query is slow or surprising, looking at the database query is often useful.