Using “Id” as Primary Key in green field Dapper Contrib MVC 5 site

I am creating a new site and will base it on ASP.NET MVC 5 & Dapper Contrib. I want to go all in with all these technologies – and get all the time saving / convention over configuration / terse code advantages available.

I am designing the database in SQL Server 2014. Historically I have always named primary keys TableId rather than “Id”.

CREATE TABLE User (
    UserId int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    Username VARCHAR(50),
    FirstName VARCHAR(50),
    LastName VARCHAR(50)
)

Rather than…

CREATE TABLE User (
    Id int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    Username VARCHAR(50),
    FirstName VARCHAR(50),
    LastName VARCHAR(50)
)

This avoids ambiguity in some SQL – and avoids joining primary key fields to foreign keys with a different name. Good for clarity.

However – and I think Ruby on Rails Active Record started this – ORMs such as Dapper Contrib require less configuration if the Id of a table / model is called “Id”. To me this is an indication of best practice and is to be encouraged.

This is Dapper Contrib having an opinion and recommending a best practice.

Having said that very few example sites or code I have found (beyond dapper documentation) – using Dapper or not – use “Id” – most use “TableID”.

Are there advantages beyond not having to add the [Key] attribute to the “TableID” property of a model to get it to map – and what is “best practice” when doing green field development?

Yes this question has been asked many times – but not with direct relation to ORMs – and not specifically about ASP.NET MVC 5 & Dapper Contrib. These are new(ish) factors.

Or am I just flogging a dead horse here – is it purely personal preference and not that important – even when ORMs are taken into account?