Hmmm

I worked on one project only which used what I guess is an ORM-like pattern, and I have to say it was actually really nice. The code was Javascript, and there was a mapping:

• Class <-> DB table
• Field <-> DB column
• Row <-> Object

For each class, there was a big mapping table which indicated which database-backed fields needed to exist in that class, and then there was automated code that (1) could create or update the database to match the specified schema (2) would create helper methods in each class for basic data functions -- the options being "Create me a new non-database-backed object X" "I've set up the new object, insert it into the DB" "give me an iterator of all database-backed objects matching this arbitrary query", "update the appropriate row with the changes I've made to this object", "delete this object from the DB," and "I'm doing something unusual, just run this SQL query".

I honestly really liked it, it made things smooth. Maybe it was the lack of hesitation about dropping back to SQL for stuff where you needed SQL, but I never had issues with it and it seemed to me like it made life pretty straightforward.