I’ve been doing a lot more server-side programming in the last few years. Being able to write Swift on both sides is a real joy. I have a client with whom I’ve built a reasonably full-featured social app in Vapor , and all my personal stuff has been using Meridian , which has been going great. (I will have some contracting availability for server-side Swift coming up soon, so definitely get in touch if you have a project!)
However, one part of the process that I don’t enjoy much is using an ORM. There’s too much magic when working with them. I feel disconnected from the queries that are being run, and it’s too easy to accidentally add an n+1 query. I also don’t like how it turns a relational system into an object graph — I’d much prefer to work in terms of records with related IDs, rather than objects with children.
ORMs run some of the biggest sites and systems in the world — if you like them, keep using them. If they make you feel weird too, the rest of the post might be for you.
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