> I usually use C# Enums translated by EF Core now (...)
Does this approach ensure data consistency? Or could you accidentally insert a number value into your table which is not represented by any of the enum values?
Well C# is strongly typed so that’s punted to the CLR type system (assuming you’re not using raw sql to insert values via other means/frontends) - but it isn’t too hard to forcibly to cast a raw int to an enum in C# which doesn’t actually contain a definition with that integral value (unlike in even stronger typed languages eg in rust where it’s a lot more work).
I “manually” add a check constraint (via EF, so it’s not so much manual as it is “remember to copy and paste this in your db.cs) to assert the value is greater than or equal to zero and less than the number of inhabitants in the enum, but this fails if you manually code the enum values (eg for flags, legacy interop, etc).
With raw SQL you could write anything in it. Within EF Core it won't allow bad values, you could trick it I think but that is not something you'd do accidentally. You can always add a CHECK constraint in addition, if you have more uncontrolled places modifying those values.
I “manually” add a check constraint (via EF, so it’s not so much manual as it is “remember to copy and paste this in your db.cs) to assert the value is greater than or equal to zero and less than the number of inhabitants in the enum, but this fails if you manually code the enum values (eg for flags, legacy interop, etc).