I talk with Jeremy Miller about ORM

Mike Moore of Alt.NET Podcasts arranged and captured a conversation between Jeremy Miller and me about Object Relational Mapping (ORM) and persistence frameworks. You'll find it here.

Jeremy is one smart guy and he has the industry experience that gives depth to his intelligence. He cares passionately about the craft. He has a fine sense for the balance between the principle and the practical. He's a gifted speaker and writer and, fortunately for us, he does a lot of both.

He also signed the Entity Framework "Vote of No Confidence", a document I began to criticize in an earlier post. We have contrasting views about what makes a good ORM and we explore some of the particulars in this conversation.

I think we did a number of things well. It was not a "smack down" or any of that kind of nonsense. We find much common ground. We jointly articulate the benefits of ORM as we see them.

And we retain that camaraderie even as we explore our differences. We go beyond the doctrinaire recital of our respective catechisms to discover what we each think matters most. As I review the tape, it seems to me that we share the same fundamental concerns; we just react differently to the pain and trouble you'll encounter when you follow one route or the other.

I don't believe either of us was persuaded to change sides. I don't believe there was a "winner" nor was that the intent.

I do believe we each found merit in the other's position and remained open to challenging our own most fondly held views.

I hope you'll give it a listen.

Kudos to Mike for producing a lively and balanced show.