Just to bring everyone up to speed, Telerik acquired Vanatec in October 2008. With this acquisition Telerik also added Open Access ORM to our developer tools portfolio.
What is an ORM?
ORM is an acronym for object relation mapping. At a basic level, an ORM helps us store & retrieve objects. For many of us, an ORM simply prevents us from writing a lot of SQL.
For example, let's say we have a Customer class:
Customer customer=newCustomer();
customer.FirstName ="Mike";
customer.LastName ="Walsh";
An ORM allows us to do something like this:
customer.Save();
And behind the scenes it would automatically generate & execute the SQL needed to persist this object:
INSERT INTO Customers(FirstName, LastName) VALUES ('Mike', 'Walsh')
I'm simplifying a lot, but this will give you the general idea. An ORM reduces the amount of boring CRUD needed to get your web application up & running.
What does Open Access mean to Sitefinity
With Sitefinity 4.x Nolics (the ORM Sitefinity is currently using) will be replaced with Open Access. With this change, Sitefinity will be become a richer application development environment.
Here are a handful of benefits Open Access brings to the table:
- Performance improvements.
- Easier queries with LINQ or OQL
- Improved database schema & dynamic data definitions.
- Support for a wider range of databases.
- Control to evolve & grow the product.
- Support and documentation.
Licensing is still being decided, but the Open Access developer tools will be available at some level to all Sitefinity developers. Open Access will make it easier to develop with Sitefinity.
Getting Started
I will publish a follow-up article demonstrating how to use Open Access within your Sitefinity project.
In the meantime, download the free Open Access Express. Open Access Express only works with free database servers (SQL Express, MySQL), but is fully functional and will never expire.
You can also read Jan Blessenohl’s introductory articles on Open Access.
Lastly, you are always invited to use the Open Access forums.
Questions?
If you have questions, post a comment! I’ll gather your questions and send them to the team for answers.
