Firebird has a fully featured managed ADO.NET provider with rich set of features:
Connection Pooling
The provider uses connection
pooling by default. Connection pooling can improve performance when the
application is opening and closing connections frequently (e.g. web
applications).
Implicit Transactions
Every operation in Firebird runs under transaction control. To make
your work easier, there is a default transaction started and committed
automatically if you don't specify it.
Programmatic Database Creation
The ADO.NET provider allows you to create a new database from your application.
Batch SQL/DDL Execution
The service API supports running batch SQL/DDL scripts. You can create
a new database structure, update the structure to a new version, create
stored procedures, etc.
Service API
Other service API functions include
database backup, restore, validation, retrieving statistics and
database/server properties, user management.
Transparent Text BLOB Support
BLOB fields with TEXT subtype can be accessed as strings transparently.
MSSQL-Style Parameters ("@parameter")
Firebird ADO.NET provider support named parameters as well as quotation mark parameters ("?").
CommandBuilder
The provider support CommandBuilder that generates SELECT/INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE commands for a table/view automatically.
StoredProcedure CommandType
The provider
supports setting FbCommand.CommandType to StoredProcedure. This
shortens the SQL command for calling stored procedures from "EXECUTE
PROCEDURE MYPROC (@param1, @param2)" to "MYPROC".
Metadata Retrieval
The provider can give you
information on your database structure, including tables, view, stored
procedures and their parameters, etc.