Also, ORMs do more than replace a SQL statement. They compose together so when you have code like: person.orders.first And you change your database to ma

Also, ORMs do more than replace a SQL statement. They compose together so when you have code like: person.orders.first And you change your database to make an intermediary table when business needs change and you need multiple people to be associated with an order you don't need to change the above line of code, you just call a class method in person and everything continues to work. It only gets more powerful with scopes and other things. I still drop into SQL, but usually when I'm doing data analysis, not normal business logic.