Data Management Tools

Managing raw SQL can be hard. We use tools to help us.

ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)

An ORM lets you interact with your database using your programming language (like JavaScript) instead of writing raw SQL queries.

• Prisma: Modern ORM for TypeScript and Node.js. Very popular.
• Drizzle: Lightweight and fast ORM.

Example (Prisma Query)

Instead of SELECT * FROM users, you write:

const users = await prisma.user.findMany();

For a deeper guide (schema, queries, raw SQL, and an Express example), see:

• Prisma ORM

Migrations

Database Migrations are like version control for your database schema. They treat changes to your database structure (like adding a column) as code.

• Helps teams stay in sync.
• Allows you to roll back changes if something breaks.

Prisma Migrations (Typical Workflow)

• Edit schema.prisma
• Run a migration to update your database schema
• Prisma generates migration files and updates the client

Caching

Caching stores copies of data in a faster storage (usually RAM) so future requests for that data can be served faster.

• Browser Caching: The browser saves images/css.
• Server Caching: The server saves HTML or API responses.
• Database Caching: Using Redis to store frequent queries.
• Memcached (mentioned): A simple, in-memory cache (key/value). Often used for very fast caching, but with fewer features than Redis.

References

• Prisma ORM
• Redis Caching