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Prisma vs. TypeORM
A practical look at database tools in the Node.js/TypeScript ecosystem
Working with databases is an unavoidable part of being a backend developer.
In particular, the server-side JavaScript ecosystem offers an endless number of libraries that aim to make this task less painful. Some of the most popular include:
- Sequelize (an object-relational mapper, or ORM, library)
- pg/mysql (JavaScript clients for interfacing with a specific database)
- Knex.js (a general-purpose query builder)
Each of these libraries has its strengths and weaknesses.
Using a lower-level library like pg offers significant performance benefits at the cost of being challenging to maintain over time (as you’re writing raw SQL queries). Nonetheless, using these libraries can be confusing for new developers as they require a strong understanding of SQL.
On the other end of the spectrum, ORMs like Sequelize offer convenient abstractions that often simplify working with databases. Nevertheless, they come at the cost of performance as the underlying SQL that is generated is generally less efficient than if an experienced programmer wrote it.
