Doctrine ORM
A PHP library that maps PHP objects to database tables so you can save and load them without writing SQL by hadoctrine/orm
- Stars
- 10.2k
- Forks
- 2.5k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- PHP
- Last update
- 5 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
Doctrine ORM is an object-relational mapper for PHP 8.1 and newer. It lets developers store and retrieve PHP objects in a database, and it sits on top of a database abstraction layer (DBAL). It also offers Doctrine Query Language (DQL), an object-oriented query language inspired by Hibernate's HQL, as an alternative to writing raw SQL.
- Map PHP classes to database tables and persist them with transparent saving and loading
- Write queries in DQL against your objects instead of raw SQL strings
- Build a data layer for a PHP web application on top of the Doctrine DBAL
Great for
- PHP developers building applications that store structured data in a relational database
- Teams that want database queries expressed in terms of their own objects
- Developers familiar with ORMs such as Hibernate who are working in PHP
- Projects in the Doctrine ecosystem that already use its DBAL
Not ideal for
- People who only need simple SQL scripts or a non-PHP stack, since the README describes it as a PHP library
- Projects on PHP versions below 8.1, which the README lists as the minimum requirement
- Non-developers looking for a finished end-user application
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: PHP 8.1+
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/doctrine/orm - 2
Run it
- Check the official documentation for installation instructions
- Install the library into a PHP project using Composer, as described in the documentation
- Define a PHP class and map it to a database table
- Use the entity manager to persist and query your objects
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Read the Doctrine ORM documentation for mapping and DQL details
- Pair it with the Doctrine DBAL it is built on for lower-level database control
- Choose the branch that matches your PHP and framework version, since several are maintained
Downloads
Strengths
- Transparent persistence means your PHP objects are the main thing you work with
- DQL offers an object-oriented query option that avoids duplicating SQL logic
- The README lists several maintained branches with CI build and coverage badges
Trade-offs
- Requires PHP 8.1 or newer, so older PHP projects may need upgrades first
- The README is brief on setup; detailed usage lives in the external documentation site
- Learning mapping configuration and DQL takes time for those new to ORMs
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.