Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Doctrine ORM VS Entity Framework

Compare Doctrine ORM VS Entity Framework and see what are their differences

Doctrine ORM logo Doctrine ORM

PHP object relational mapper (ORM) that sits on top of a powerful database abstraction layer (DBAL).

Entity Framework logo Entity Framework

See Comparison of Entity Framework vs NHibernate.
  • Doctrine ORM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-20
  • Entity Framework Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18

Doctrine ORM features and specs

  • Database Abstraction
    Doctrine ORM provides a high level of abstraction over the database, enabling developers to work with objects and classes instead of SQL code directly. This abstraction allows for easier interaction with the database and improves code readability and maintainability.
  • Powerful Query Language
    Doctrine ORM includes DQL (Doctrine Query Language), which is similar to SQL but works with your application's object model. It provides a powerful way to query data efficiently and expressively using objects instead of raw SQL.
  • Advanced Features
    Features like automatic schema generation, entity life cycle events, and support for complex data types make Doctrine ORM a robust choice for developers needing advanced ORM capabilities.
  • Community and Documentation
    Doctrine ORM has a strong community and extensive documentation, which is beneficial for both novice and experienced developers looking to learn and troubleshoot issues.
  • Integration with Symfony
    Doctrine ORM integrates seamlessly with the Symfony PHP framework, making it a popular choice for developers using Symfony for their applications.

Possible disadvantages of Doctrine ORM

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its complexity and the depth of its features, Doctrine ORM can have a steep learning curve for developers unfamiliar with ORM concepts or those who are new to the framework.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction layer and additional features of Doctrine ORM can introduce performance overhead compared to writing raw SQL, particularly in applications where high query performance is critical.
  • Complexity in Complex Queries
    While DQL offers many advantages, expressing complex queries can sometimes be cumbersome and may require developers to resort to native SQL, which can counteract some benefits of using an ORM.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Configuring Doctrine ORM can be complex and requires careful setup to ensure entities and relationships are correctly defined, which can be error-prone for large projects.

Entity Framework features and specs

  • Productivity
    Entity Framework automates database-related code generation, reducing the amount of boilerplate code developers must write and maintain. This allows developers to work more efficiently and focus more on business logic.
  • Abstraction
    It abstracts the database interaction details, enabling developers to work with higher-level .NET objects instead of raw SQL queries, resulting in clearer and more manageable code.
  • Code First Approach
    This allows developers to define their database schema using C# classes, making it easy to evolve the database alongside the codebase using migrations.
  • Support for Multiple Databases
    Entity Framework supports a wide range of relational databases, including SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MySQL, providing flexibility and choice to the developers.
  • Change Tracking
    It provides automatic change tracking of entity objects, simplifying the process of updating data in the database without manually tracking object changes.

Possible disadvantages of Entity Framework

  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction layer can lead to performance overhead compared to plain SQL queries, as the generated queries might not be as optimized as handcrafted SQL.
  • Complexity
    For simple or small applications, the complexity introduced by using an ORM like Entity Framework might be unnecessary and could complicate the architecture.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers need to learn the specific concepts and configurations of Entity Framework, which can be time-consuming compared to traditional database access methodologies.
  • Debugging Difficulty
    Debugging issues can be more challenging because of the abstraction, making it sometimes difficult to trace the exact query being executed and pinpoint performance bottlenecks.
  • Limited SQL Features
    While Entity Framework supports a wide range of SQL functionalities, there are advanced features specific to certain databases that may not be fully supported or could require custom implementation.

Doctrine ORM videos

Create Doctrine ORM Entity and pagination in Expressive - 005

More videos:

  • Review - Marco Pivetta: Doctrine ORM Good Practices and Tricks
  • Review - Doctrine ORM

Entity Framework videos

Entity Framework Best Practices - Should EFCore Be Your Data Access of Choice?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Entity Framework 6 Tutorial: Learn Entity Framework 6 from Scratch
  • Review - Getting the best out of Entity Framework Core - Jon P Smith

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Doctrine ORM and Entity Framework)
Databases
40 40%
60% 60
Web Frameworks
24 24%
76% 76
Backend Development
49 49%
51% 51
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Doctrine ORM and Entity Framework. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Entity Framework seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 15 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Doctrine ORM mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Doctrine ORM yet. Tracking of Doctrine ORM recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Entity Framework mentions (15)

  • Create a Simple .NET Workflow App From Scratch – Your Ultimate Guide
    For the simplicity we will use MSSQLProvider to fetch the data from the database. This class has basic functionality, if you want to create complex database queries, for example JOIN, you'd better use something like Entity Framework. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Entity Framework Core in .NET 7 7️⃣
    I only wanted to give a simple preview of what can be done with Entity Framework, but if this is something that interests you and you want to go further in-depth with all the possibilities, I recommend checking out the official docs where you can also find a great tutorial which will guide you through building your very own .NET Core web application. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Got an internship, need help with .NET
    Entity Framework documentation hub - Entity Framework is a modern object-relation mapper that lets you build a clean, portable, and high-level data access layer with .NET (C#) across a variety of databases, including SQL Database (on-premises and Azure), SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Azure Cosmos DB. It supports LINQ queries, change tracking, updates, and schema migrations. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How to create a "Database Project" that can be used across multiple .NET apps?
    You can create the DAL using your existing code or start using a Object Relational Mapper like Entity Framework which will do a lot of the work for you, check this out here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/ also check out LINQ. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Website with Database. use C#
    And, possibly (not strictly speaking necessary but very useful) Entity framework as a backend part of it. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Doctrine ORM and Entity Framework, you can also consider the following products

Eloquent ORM - [READ ONLY] Subtree split of the Illuminate Database component (see laravel/framework) - illuminate/database

Sequelize - Provides access to a MySQL database by mapping database entries to objects and vice-versa.

Nette - Home Page. Let's create the home page displaying your recent posts. Before we start, you should know at least some basics about Model-View-Presenter design pattern (similar to MVC ):. Model – data manipulation layer.

Hibernate - Hibernate an open source Java persistence framework project.

Hibernate ORM - Hibernate team account. Hibernate is a suite of open source projects around domain models. The flagship project is Hibernate ORM, the Object Relational Mapper.

MyBATIS - MyBatis is a top-rated SQL-based data mapping solution used by Programmers, Software Engineers, and Database Architects for developing object-oriented software applications.