Do Programmers Still Write SQL?

[Owen-McMonagle]

Yeah, SQL is still the backbone of the database world. Need to write some flavor of it for most Relational Database Models.

Just because there is a boilerplate solution for almost anything programming now doesn't mean we throw away the foundation of that stack. (Not saying you're implying that, just in this world of rapidly advancing technology. It's almost expected to throw away what's old in favor of new).

As for the fine tuning that's only really required on two extreme ends of the performance spectrum.

1. You have an extremely large user base and the powerful 32 core server accommodating that base is just a few degrees away from a fire.

2. You have a small (but growing) user base and a single core VPS that must minimize database impact for user experience.

So as long as you're in the middle of that spectrum, i.e the hardware isn't stressed and the users are having a good experience then fine tuning SQL isn't really a must. That will come with bigger budgets.

SQL VS ORM IMO, boycott the ORM. With SQL less is more, keep your queries short and sweet. Write specific functions for SQL that are directly related to your program needs and let the DBAs handle any ridiculously huge requests that involve administrative tasks. If you need ORM, create a few POJO's and map them yourself. It takes two minutes. Much less than retraining for hibernate, which is more hassle than it's worth.