ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)

An ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) is a library that lets programmers work with database tables as ordinary objects and classes in their programming language. Each class maps to a table, each object to a row and each property to a column, and the ORM writes the SQL queries for you.

ORMs reduce repetitive code, protect against SQL injection by using parameters, and make it easier to switch databases. Popular ORMs include Hibernate (Java), Entity Framework (C#), Django ORM and SQLAlchemy (Python), Eloquent (PHP) and Prisma (TypeScript). For complex or performance-critical queries, writing SQL directly can still be better.