[ericmoritz]

The correct solution is to abstract away the database from the developer. An ORM forces a square peg into a round hole.

[zzzeek]

using DAOs for database access does not preclude the usage of SQL abstraction layers and/or ORMs within that DAO.

Though taking the hardline "purity" approach of hand-coding all the marshaling of data to/from business objects into the DAO layer on a field-by-field basis, or writing an ad-hoc automation system for this task, basically reinvents what an ORM already does out of the box.

[codewright]

Ding ding ding. Just write functions that satisfy a need. Swap out from underneath as needed.