Introduction to TypeORM and its features

If you are Backend Developer, I'm sure you must have had that moment where you get to make decisions on an Object-Relation-Mapping(ORM) library to use while setting up a project whether personal or team.
As a Javascript developer, you might want to explore your options on which particular one to use, its benefits, and trade-offs.

Here are some popular Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) libraries for TypeScript and JavaScript:

• TypeORM: An open-source ORM library that supports multiple relational databases and provides a powerful set of tools for working with databases.

• Sequelize: A popular ORM library for Node.js that supports multiple relational databases and provides a simple and powerful query API.

• Waterline: An ORM library for Node.js that supports multiple databases, including MongoDB, MySQL, and PostgreSQL, and provides a simple and flexible query API.

• Mongoose: A popular ORM library for MongoDB that provides a simple and powerful query API, and supports features such as middleware, pre- and post-hooks, and validation.

• Prisma: An ORM library for Node.js that supports multiple databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite, and provides a simple and intuitive query API.

• Bookshelf.js: A minimalistic ORM library for Node.js that provides a simple and flexible query API and supports features such as relations and transactions.

• node-orm2: An ORM library for Node.js that supports multiple relational databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite, and provides a simple and flexible query API.

• Objection.js: An ORM library for Node.js that provides a powerful query builder and supports features such as relations, transactions, and validation.

Today's focus in this article will be geared at TypeORM. We will introduce what TypeORM is and also look at the wonderful features that make it unique. Now, let's move on to the introductory part.

What is TypeORM?

TypeORM is an open-source Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) library for TypeScript and JavaScript. It provides a powerful set of tools for working with relational databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Microsoft SQL Server.

TypeORM helps developers to interact with databases in an object-oriented manner, eliminating the need to write raw SQL statements. With TypeORM, developers can define entities that represent database tables, and the ORM will automatically generate the necessary SQL statements for CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

In addition to ORM functionality, TypeORM also provides a query builder, migrations, transactions, and an event system. These features make it easier to work with relational databases in a TypeScript or JavaScript project and provide a more efficient and maintainable way of accessing and manipulating data. We'll be looking at its features.

Features of TypeORM

TypeORM is a feature-rich Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) library for TypeScript and JavaScript. Here are some of its key features:

• Entity Management: TypeORM provides an easy way to define entities that represent database tables, and automatically generates the necessary SQL statements for CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

• Query Builder: TypeORM provides a flexible and intuitive query builder that makes it easy to build and execute database queries.

• Migrations: TypeORM provides a powerful migrations system that allows developers to manage database schema changes over time.

• Transactions: TypeORM supports transactions, making it easier to handle complex database operations that require multiple updates to be committed or rolled back as a unit.

• Event System: TypeORM provides an event system that allows developers to subscribe to various events and take appropriate actions based on the events.

• Connection Pooling: TypeORM supports connection pooling, which helps to improve the performance of database operations by reusing database connections.

• Caching: TypeORM provides a caching system that can be used to cache query results, reducing the number of database round-trips and improving performance.

• Lazy Loading: TypeORM supports lazy loading, which helps to reduce the number of database round-trips by loading related entities only when they are needed.

• Logging: TypeORM provides an option to log all SQL queries executed by the Entity Manager, which can be helpful for debugging and performance analysis. By default, TypeORM logs all SQL statements executed by the Entity Manager to the console. This can be useful for debugging and performance analysis.

• TypeScript Support: TypeORM is written in TypeScript, and provides strong TypeScript support, making it easier to work with databases in TypeScript projects.

• Multi-Database Support: TypeORM supports multiple relational databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Microsoft SQL Server. It simply means we can write code that works with different databases. For example, given a project that needs to use both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, a developer can write code that works with both without having to modify the code for each scenario.

• Active Community: TypeORM has a large and active community of developers, which makes it easier to find help and resources when working with the library.

We have been able to see that Typeorm is an open-source Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) library for TypeScript and JavaScript and that it helps developers to interact with databases in an object-oriented manner, eliminating the need to write raw SQL statements.

We were able to see some features which include the support for typescript in case you are scared of integrating with your typescript project, its multi-database support, and logging functionality amongst others. We will be looking at the features more broadly in our next article. Stay tuned and always.

Subscribe to my newsletter. Thanks for reading and please drop your comments and thoughts so we can learn from each other. Follow me on Twitter for more interesting content.