I have come full circle with my development. Eleven or twelve years ago when I started with PHP, all SQL was hand written (chock full of SQL-injection attacks, I’m sure) and executed with the PHP mysql library. Then came the Frameworkapoloza and suddenly I was using objects to describe records in a database. After reflecting on this for a while, I determined it is just not for me. Using an ORM feels clunky, slow, vendor-locked, and difficult to debug. Additionally, with any system of size, you are going to have to write some large SQL queries. I feel mixing ORM code and hand-written SQL is ugly. Writing SQL might tie you into specific database software, but using an ORM ties you closely to that ORM software, which is most likely not as stable as the underlying database software. I trust the future of PostgreSQL much more than I do Doctrine or Propel, for example.
The Last PHP PDO Library You Will Ever Need - Learning Software Development - The Trendline
