Plain Old CLR Objects (POCO)

POCO stands for Plain Old CLR Object. It is a term commonly used in the context of software development, particularly in object-oriented programming (OOP) and frameworks such as Entity Framework.

A POCO is a simple, ordinary object that doesn't inherit from or depend on any special base class or framework-specific interfaces. It is a regular class written in a programming language such as C# or Java, representing a simple data structure or business entity.

The term "Plain Old CLR Object" emphasizes the simplicity and lack of dependencies on specific frameworks or technologies. POCOs are often used to define data transfer objects (DTOs), domain entities, or business objects that are decoupled from the persistence framework, allowing for easier testing, maintainability, and flexibility.

For example, in the context of Entity Framework, a POCO class represents an entity in the database. It is a simple class with properties that map to database fields, without any coupling to the Entity Framework infrastructure.

Overall, POCOs are lightweight, self-contained objects that focus on encapsulating data and behavior related to a specific domain or task, without introducing unnecessary complexity or dependencies.