c# - Reduce database calls with Entity Framework -

would possible write in 1 statement (make 1 db call?) , still able differentiate between "the member did not exist" , "the member did exist had no dogs".

public ienumerable<dog> getdogsofmember(int id) {     if (dbcontext.members.any(i => i.id == id))     {         return dbcontext.dogs.where(i => i.member.id == id);     }      return null; } 

if each dog contains reference member, can expose other end of relationship (if didn't already):

public class member {     public int id { get; set; }     // ...     public virtual icollection<dog> dogs { get; set; } } 

then can issue single efficient query using include():

public ienumerable<dog> getdogsofmember(int id) {     var memberwithdogs = dbcontext.members                                   .include(i => i.dogs)                                   .singleordefault(i => i.id == id);      if (memberwithdogs != null)         return memberwithdogs.dogs;      return null; }