I feel your pain writing SQL Queries is bug prone exercise. And trying to optimize a SQL query shows that it is a leaky abstraction. Things that I think are a

I feel your pain writing SQL Queries is bug prone exercise. And trying to optimize a SQL query shows that it is a leaky abstraction. Things that I think are a better option are: 1. Object Oriented Databases (OODB) A database that behaves like your objects. I like Gemston(Ruby & smalltalk) and db4o (java & .Net) 2. Graph databases: http://neo4j.org/ http://neo4j.org/ Neo4j is a graph database. It is an embedded, disk-based, fully transactional Java persistence engine that stores data structured in graphs rather than in tables. A graph (mathematical lingo for a network) is a flexible data structure that allows a more agile and rapid style of development. Try this alternative databases... I think they are close to the answer. PS: ORMapping is not a solution... it always ends up being messy: "Object-Relational Mapping is the Vietnam of Computer Science" http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/06/object-relational-mapping-is-the-vietnam-of-computer-science.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/06/object-relational-m...