Too tired to think deeply, but yes, I think ORMs often have hidden costs while still being net positive. SQL and relational DBs are so powerful and flexible that an ORM’s approach will usually foreclose or complicate something. I think ORMs make the DB basics easier and faster for devs, but… 1/4 - ThreadSky

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shy.bsky.social • 27 days ago

Too tired to think deeply, but yes, I think ORMs often have hidden costs while still being net positive.

SQL and relational DBs are so powerful and flexible that an ORM’s approach will usually foreclose or complicate something. I think ORMs make the DB basics easier and faster for devs, but… 1/4

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shy.bsky.social•27 days ago

ORMs help less a) the more the complexity or constraints of the work increase and b) the more the ORM insists on One Right Way to approach relational DBs. Dev time is probably required to overcome the ORM in such cases. 2/4

shy.bsky.social•27 days ago

On balance and in general, I think their benefits usually outweigh their negatives, at least with recent vintage ORMs. But DB work of any substance can get tricky, and ORMs can’t fix that. 3/4

shy.bsky.social•27 days ago

I guess I’m feeling this topic because yesterday my ORM forced me to use SQL instead of its nifty ORM-ness. Not sure if it was the problem or if the problem was me, but I couldn’t make it reference a CTE in place of an ORM entity. (Which is stupid easy in SQL)

*sigh* ORMs
4/4

lirantal.com•27 days ago

Thanks for the elaborate response. Accepting that an ORM isn't 100% fit for every single SQL use case is part of the secret to adopting them.

There are actually cases where a raw SQL query can be more secure than an ORM, depending on the ORM's syntax: https://www.nodejs-security.com/blog/raw-sql-queries-better-for-security-than-orms

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