I can see your point, pretty valid. I guess I prefer control over magic. I can produce a complex SQL SELECT, use functions/joins/views, and populate either ful

I can see your point, pretty valid. I guess I prefer control over magic. I can produce a complex SQL SELECT, use functions/joins/views, and populate either full entities with it or just teeny tiny DTOs, e.g. if I just need customer name and account number I can easily populate a CustomerStuffDto with two values from a surgical, precise, fast query. Spring manages all the datasource and transaction stuff and wiring everything together, and it's easily JUnit tested (this is an "integration test" rather than "unit test" I am told, but it works !) Pretty sure ibatis helps you avoid the counting ? chars by naming params in a #param1# syntax, might be mis-recalling though.