What is ORM? How It Simplifies Database Queries for Developers| Sabbirz

What is ORM?

Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) is a way for programmers to interact with a database using simple code instead of writing complex database queries. ORM allows developers to work with data like it’s an object in their programming language, rather than writing SQL commands directly. This makes working with databases easier and less time-consuming.

How Did ORM Start?

Before ORM, developers had to write SQL queries manually to communicate with databases. This could be complicated and prone to mistakes. Around the early 2000s, ORM tools started to appear to make this process easier. Some of the first ORM tools included:

Hibernate (2001) – One of the first ORM tools, developed for Java applications.
Active Record (2003) – Used in Ruby on Rails to make database interactions simpler.
Doctrine (2006) – A tool that brought ORM to PHP applications.
Entity Framework (2008) – Microsoft's ORM tool for .NET applications.

ORM vs. Writing SQL Queries Manually

Feature	ORM	Manual Queries
Ease of Use	Uses simple code instead of SQL.	Requires knowledge of SQL syntax.
Readability	Code is clean and easy to understand.	Queries can be long and complex.
Performance	Might be slightly slower due to extra processing.	Usually faster because queries are written directly.
Security	Protects against SQL injection automatically.	Developers must manually handle security risks.
Compatibility	Works with different database types easily.	Queries may need to be rewritten for different databases.

ORM in Popular Programming Frameworks

ORM is widely used in web development frameworks to simplify database management. Here’s how different frameworks use ORM:

1. Laravel (PHP) – Eloquent ORM

Laravel has Eloquent, which makes database operations easy with simple code:

// Get a user by email
$user = User::where('email', 'example@example.com')->first();

// Create a new user
$user = new User();
$user->name = 'John Doe';
$user->email = 'john@example.com';
$user->save();

2. Frappe (Python) – Frappe ORM

Frappe provides an ORM that helps in managing data within ERPNext applications:

# Get a user by email
user = frappe.get_doc("User", {"email": "example@example.com"})

# Create a new user
doc = frappe.get_doc({
    "doctype": "User",
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "full_name": "John Doe"
})
doc.insert()

3. Django (Python) – Django ORM

Django has a built-in ORM that allows working with databases using Python objects:

# Get a user by email
user = User.objects.get(email="example@example.com")

# Create a new user
user = User.objects.create(name="John Doe", email="john@example.com")

4. WordPress (PHP) – WPDB

WordPress does not have a full ORM, but WPDB helps interact with databases:

global $wpdb;
$user = $wpdb->get_row("SELECT * FROM wp_users WHERE user_email = 'example@example.com'");

5. Ruby on Rails (Ruby) – Active Record

Ruby on Rails uses Active Record for simple database operations:

user = User.find_by(email: "example@example.com")
user = User.create(name: "John Doe", email: "john@example.com")

6. NestJS (TypeScript) – TypeORM

NestJS uses TypeORM for database management:

const user = await userRepository.findOne({ where: { email: "example@example.com" } });

7. FastAPI (Python) – SQLAlchemy ORM

FastAPI works with SQLAlchemy to manage databases efficiently:

user = db.query(User).filter(User.email == "example@example.com").first()

Understanding ORM A Beginner’s Guide to Database Management