I am searching for a database abstraction layer in future PHP projects. Until now I have worked with plain SQL-commands and arrays on the one hand fully featured ORMs like Doctrine on the other hand.
I don’t like ORM because most of the time the job is to get a list of data from the database and to send it to the template engine. Both work fully fine with arrays and there’s no need to make it all complicated by capsule the data in an object when the template just needs the plain array. I don’t like the plain-SQL approach either because for the simple CRUD stuff I have to write everything myself and also I don’t like to maintain two models of my data (one in the DB and the other within my database access object).
Is there something which let’s me define the model one time only and generates the elementary stuff for me (like in Doctrine) but which saves me from the active record pattern?
The db is not a model, its the raw data source, and the model is, in thoery, more than just the data fields, it should also be the methods that affect the model’s data.
You are always going to have to tell the program what to insert and where into the db, even if you use a library that encapsulates the sql or if you write it yourself.
If you find yourself writing the similar “insert” and “select” commands over and over, then its time to design some functions or classes.