Code generation is not ORM (Object Relational Mapping). ORM is not code generation.

These are two separate ideas. ORM is part-of code generation but code generation is super to ORM.

I get in discussions with people that are strongly against ORM mostly due in part to Jeff Atwood’s post that ORM is vietnam. Yes it can be, and ORM is only for highly tailored teams and projects and creates bulk and uncontrollable code bases. BUT, code generation is valuable and here to stay.

Code generation can be a templating system that outputs code that exactly is the way you would write it and generate unit tests, db field mappings, basic skeletal architecture, maybe a data layer that accesses tables and views or any one of those things from a custom, open source, standard or commercial templating system.

Code generation can also be macros, db migration processes (SSPI or DTS or PL-SQL or n), adding a new file in yoru IDE (VS.NET/Eclipse/FD templates), configuration files, refactoring tools, and many other things. Code generation is a part of life for a programmer or engineer. In fact if you dont’ start getting a handle on the code generation systems that are evolving then you will be that much more without a solution when platforms advance.

Code generation can also be team building because many times people against code generation are hand coders. This is fine and this works great for one programmer. When you add programmer++ to any single team all of a sudden “styles” come into play. Code generation and basic framework or API code structures should be similar in a team environment so that others have a base layer of knowledge they can get up to speed on. Code generation brings the style battles and architecture to the forefront on how code should look in an organization. As you can imagine when you give 50 architects or developers the lead, you will get 50 different was of doing things, some good, some bad. Code generation ensures at least a basic structure of code and apis that can be used. Team integration is hard, code generation usually goes hand in hand with this if it is as small as new file templates in an IDE or a macro all the way to entire api framework generators.

It is important that code within the same project look and act the same. Same styles, same conventions, same architecture. One way of settling this is having code generation that everyone agree upon that can help at least structure projects the same, even if implementation and behind the API layer things are like the wild wild west.

Code Generation > ORM

Code Generation is usually guilty by association. We are hoping to change the perception, but again code generation is really only needed when you get beyond the single programmer mindset, or when you start to make a product family or open source.

Code Generation != ORM, Code Generation IS for the Code Generation