I've found that you need to first understand basic SQL very well. Then once you've mastered the ORM, it can dramatically improve your productivity. But you need

I've found that you need to first understand basic SQL very well. Then once you've mastered the ORM, it can dramatically improve your productivity. But you need to understand both to reason about what you are doing. ORMs have their place. Simple CRUD microservice? An ORM can help tremendously. Complex reporting system? Probably not the right tool. Be careful though. I've run into issues where once you're scaled way up and need the ORM to get out of the way, it can be a beast to detangle if you weren't disciplined.