Question

I was curious to know whether its ok if I user codeigniter’s active record query besides using doctrine in some cases, simultaneously. Because in some cases, I find active record more easy and quick way to get things done then writing doctrine query. For example, consider the following case where I need to return total number of rows in a table, in doctrine:

$query = $this->em->createQueryBuilder()
  ->select("count(c)")
  ->from($this->entity, "c")
  ->getQuery();
return $query->getSingleScalarResult();

vs via active record:

return $this->db->count_all_results($this->table);

You can see how easy it is in active record. There may be more such cases. So, is there any pros or cons in using both?

Also, will they use two different db connection to perform their operations?

Answer 1

You can use both Doctrine and ActiveRecord at the same time. Swordfish has highlighted the some problems. In addition to that if you bring in new developer team, the learning curve will be more.

I suggest choose one and stick with it. IMO, both are equally good. You should choose based on your current project and personal preference. You can find the very good comparison here

What Does Doctrine Add Above Active Record – CodeIgniter?

Regarding the two queries you mentioned, if you use DQL, it might look simple

$query = $em->createQuery('SELECT COUNT(u.id) FROM Entities\User u');
$count = $query->getSingleScalarResult();