Entity Framework - Code First - Can't Store List<String>

EF Core 2.1+ :

Property:

public string[] Strings { get; set; }

OnModelCreating:

modelBuilder.Entity<YourEntity>()
            .Property(e => e.Strings)
            .HasConversion(
                v => string.Join(',', v),
                v => v.Split(',', StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries));

Update (2021-02-14)

The PostgreSQL has an array data type and the Npgsql EF Core provider does support that. So it will map your C# arrays and lists to the PostgreSQL array data type automatically and no extra config is required. Also you can operate on the array and the operation will be translated to SQL.

More information on this page.

This answer is based on the ones provided by @Sasan and @CAD bloke.

If you wish to use this in .NET Standard 2 or don't want Newtonsoft, see Xaniff's answer below

Works only with EF Core 2.1+ (not .NET Standard compatible)(Newtonsoft JsonConvert)

builder.Entity<YourEntity>().Property(p => p.Strings)
    .HasConversion(
        v => JsonConvert.SerializeObject(v),
        v => JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<string>>(v));

Using the EF Core fluent configuration we serialize/deserialize the List to/from JSON.

Why this code is the perfect mix of everything you could strive for:

• The problem with Sasn's original answer is that it will turn into a big mess if the strings in the list contains commas (or any character chosen as the delimiter) because it will turn a single entry into multiple entries but it is the easiest to read and most concise.
• The problem with CAD bloke's answer is that it is ugly and requires the model to be altered which is a bad design practice (see Marcell Toth's comment on Sasan's answer). But it is the only answer that is data-safe.

Slightly tweaking @Mathieu Viales's answer, here's a .NET Standard compatible snippet using the new System.Text.Json serializer thus eliminating the dependency on Newtonsoft.Json.

using System.Text.Json;

builder.Entity<YourEntity>().Property(p => p.Strings)
    .HasConversion(
        v => JsonSerializer.Serialize(v, default),
        v => JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<string>>(v, default));

Note that while the second argument in both Serialize() and Deserialize() is typically optional, you'll get an error:

An expression tree may not contain a call or invocation that uses optional arguments

Explicitly setting that to the default (null) for each clears that up.

Of course Pawel has given the right answer. But I found in this post that since EF 6+ it is possible to save private properties. So I would prefer this code, because you are not able to save the Strings in a wrong way.

public class Test
{
    [Key]
    [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
    public int Id { get; set; }

    [Column]
    [Required]
    private String StringsAsStrings { get; set; }

    public List<String> Strings
    {
        get { return StringsAsStrings.Split(',').ToList(); }
        set
        {
            StringsAsStrings = String.Join(",", value);
        }
    }
    public Test()
    {
        Strings = new List<string>
        {
            "test",
            "test2",
            "test3",
            "test4"
        };
    }
}

I want to add that when using Npgsql (data provider for PostgreSQL), arrays and lists of primitive types are actually supported:

https://www.npgsql.org/efcore/mapping/array.html

Link to the documentation

Example from the documentation:

public class Post
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Contents { get; set; }

    public ICollection<string> Tags { get; set; }
}

Using System.Text.Json:

modelBuilder.Entity<Post>()
    .Property(e => e.Tags)
    .HasConversion(
        v => JsonSerializer.Serialize(v, (JsonSerializerOptions)null),
        v => JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<string>>(v, (JsonSerializerOptions)null),
        new ValueComparer<ICollection<string>>(
            (c1, c2) => c1.SequenceEqual(c2),
            c => c.Aggregate(0, (a, v) => HashCode.Combine(a, v.GetHashCode())),
            c => (ICollection<string>)c.ToList()));

@Pawel-m's solution works. I managed to get it working for a complex data type, not just for a string.

public class AddressModel
{
    public string City { get; set; }
    public string State { get; set; }
}

public class Person
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public ICollection<AddressModel> Addresses { get; set; } = new List<AddressModel>();
}

It's too bad that the serialization / deserialization expression needs to happen at the modelBuilder layer scope. I would have preferred just to put it in the model definition like OnModelBinding() (if there was such an option). I put it at the startup level scope in DbContext->OnModelCreating().

modelBuilder.Entity<AddressModel>().Property(p => p.Addresses )
    .HasConversion(
    v => JsonSerializer.Serialize(v, (JsonSerializerOptions) null),
    v => JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<AddressModel>>(v, (JsonSerializerOptions) null),
    new ValueComparer<ICollection<AddressModel>>(
        (c1, c2) => c1.SequenceEqual(c2),
        c => c.Aggregate(0, (a, v) => HashCode.Combine(a, v.GetHashCode())),
        c => c.ToList()));