> Smart developers both know SQL well, AND use ORM's. > But they are a huge productivity enhancer and work well enough I disagree with the implication that us

> Smart developers both know SQL well, AND use ORM's. > But they are a huge productivity enhancer and work well enough I disagree with the implication that using an ORM is the default that 'smart developers' always choose. Good developers choose the right tool for the job, so the tool selected depends on the job. Also, what the term ORM means (and its effects on the design) vary based on language ecosystem and library. For instance, if the application doesn't need to dynamically navigate relations, and instead can get by with just treating the database as a set of structs, an ORM like Hibernate would probably introduce more complexity than it gives benefit. In such cases, a library like Jooq or JDBI could make the overall design simpler, perform better, and make it easier to reason about the behavior of the system. I would argue those are not ORMs, yet they can yield a better product, depending on the situation.