Object-relational mapping (ORM) emerged as a solution to a fundamental challenge in modern software development: bridging the gap between object-oriented programming (OOP) and relational databases.
In the early days of software engineering, developers often found themselves manually writing extensive SQL queries to interact with databases. This process was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and difficult to maintain, especially as applications grew in complexity.
ORM was introduced to address these challenges by providing a layer that automates the translation between objects in an OOP language and the tables in a relational database.
Why Use ORM?
The traditional approach to database interactions in software development involves writing raw SQL queries.
This method, while powerful, poses several challenges, particularly as applications grow in complexity while Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) addresses these challenges by providing a more intuitive and streamlined way to interact with databases:
- Complexity and Boilerplate Code: Writing raw SQL queries often requires a lot of repetitive and verbose code. Each database operation (like insert, update, or select) necessitates a new SQL statement, leading to boilerplate code that can be error-prone and difficult to maintain.
