ActiveRecord or OG?

Hi group. I am an avid lurker.

ActiveRecord (without Rails…) or ObjectGraph ? I have no real
experience with ORMs. Any insight to this desicion is appreciated.

The Case::
I want to write a SOAP based server interface according to a specific
industry domain API based on SOAP/XML-RPC/HTTP with a set of CRUD style
methods and 20+ XML objects with a decent level of complexity. The
interface also holds some business rules and rules for behaviour. The
backend will be a mySql database and I want to learn/utilize ORM for
the first time.

One obvious answer might be: “Try both…”, but I dont have the
capacity to do that.

regards, Henning

jansenh wrote:

Hi group. I am an avid lurker.

ActiveRecord (without Rails…) or ObjectGraph ? I have no real
experience with ORMs. Any insight to this desicion is appreciated.

One obvious answer might be: “Try both…”, but I dont have the
capacity to do that.

Well, you probably do. They are both pretty straightforward to use.

It would be worth trying to use both, as they have complimentary
approaches to ORM, and the best fit for you may depend on how you like
to work.


James B.

“A principle or axiom is of no value without the rules for applying it.”

  • Len Bullard

On 2/19/06, jansenh [email protected] wrote:

interface also holds some business rules and rules for behaviour. The
backend will be a mySql database and I want to learn/utilize ORM for
the first time.

One obvious answer might be: “Try both…”, but I dont have the
capacity to do that.

One way to decide is by choosing which of these two statements seems
more ‘right’ to you.

  1. Ruby objects are wrappers around rows in my database.
  2. The database is where my Ruby objects go when they are sleepy.

#1 is ActiveRecord, #2 is ObjectGraph.

That being said, James is right, and you should at least briefly try
both. They are both simple to install and try out. If you intend to
use the rest of Rails, and not just the ORM, choosing ActiveRecord
will make your task easier, due to the numerous ActiveRecord-aware
helpers.

Wilson B. wrote:

One way to decide is by choosing which of these two statements seems
more ‘right’ to you.

  1. Ruby objects are wrappers around rows in my database.
  2. The database is where my Ruby objects go when they are sleepy.

#1 is ActiveRecord, #2 is ObjectGraph.

An apt metaphor. Og is on my radar as something to try. I’m more of
a #2 guy.

Hal