Looking for a language/framework

[Ravi Teja]

> For example, I've never seen an "object-relational mapping" (technical
> term for cruft that tries to avoid people having to learn and use SQL)
> which doesn't drive me into a murderous, foam-at-mouth rage in a very
> short time -- I *WANT* my SQL, I *LOVE* SQL, it's *WAY* more powerful
> and suitable for access to data than all those simulated "OO DB" people
> lay on top of it (of course, that does depend on having a REAL
> relational DB underneath, not, say, MySQL;-).  Other people disagree
> very, very deeply with my preferences (as proven by the existence of a
> begazillion ORMs, including general-purpose ones as well as ones that
> are part of web-application frameworks).

I for one don't have any particular love for SQL. For most purposes I
don't want to be bothered with its details. However, I am disillusioned
with ORMs. With SQL and old school database management, I had tools
such as QBEs, ERD managers to visually manage much of the details (I
perform better with pictures than text) and even if others disagree, it
worked well for me. Now with ORMs, I am back to code again. Granted, it
appears cleaner most of the time but I want to be able to not see it at
all.

Java ORMs are begining to get a lot of these tools now. But I have been
cautious to dip my toes in these cold (verbose, XML infested) waters so
far.