Pain with ODP.NET

• libraries are version specific - Must have 10g ODP.Net for 10g install, 11g for 11g, etc.
• The ODP.Net drivers rarely work with Visual Studio tooling, and I think still lack any support for LINQ or EF.
• Bad support
• Memory leaks with CLOB

Good (contradictions though)

• ODP.NET 11g works with any version of Oracle Database back to 9.2
  This enhancement was introduced starting in ODP.NET 10.2.0.4
• Multiple versions of ODP.NET can live on the same box as well
• XCOPY deployment. You no longer need to use the Oracle Installer to install. We give you files and you just need to gac a few DLLs and update the registry. To download this version look for the “ODAC with Xcopy” download in the list.

June 2009: “System.Data.OracleClient” deprecated in .NET 4
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adonet/archive/2009/06/15/system-data-oracleclient-update.aspx

Major players
Oracle ODP.NET: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/dotnet/msoc/index.html
DataDirect Technologies : http://www.datadirect.com/index.ssp
OpenLink: http://www.openlinksw.com/
Devart: http://devart.com/dotconnect/

ODP.NET home
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/dotnet/index-085703.html

Oracle Developer Tools for VS2010
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/visual-studio/overview/index-097110.html