ent VS sqlc

In this article, we'll delve into the world of concurrency control in Go, specifically focusing on the optimistic locking approach. We'll explore its implementation using Ent ORM to illustrate how to manage data consistency when multiple users interact with the same resource. Keep in mind that this example serves as a simplified illustration, and real-world booking systems involve a many of additional complexities. However, the core concepts presented here provide a solid foundation for understanding optimistic locking in Go applications. Feel free to explore the complete source code in my GitHub repository for a more in-depth look at the implementation.

ent is a fairly recent ORM that uses a code-first approach where you define your schema in Go code. Ent is popular thanks to its ability to handle complex data models and relationships elegantly. It's statically typed, which can help catch errors at compile time. However, the learning curve might be steeper compared to more straightforward ORMs like GORM. It's a good fit for applications where complex data models and type safety are priorities.

If you found this article, than you are probably similar to how I was a few months ago. I started a project in Go that required a SQL backend and I wanted to use any tool that would help me build this backend quickly. I stumbled upon entgo (an ORM for Go) and decided to give it a try.

The ent orm for golang actually does some useful work for you. https://github.com/ent/ent

Backend Database interaction with entgo

You can use entgo.io for ORM stuff, it also has entgql extension that integrated with GQLGen. See more at the document: https://entgo.io/docs/tutorial-todo-gql

"Is there a way to get sqlc to use pointers for nullable columns instead of the sql.Null types?"

I came across this yesterday for golang: https://sqlc.dev which is somewhat like what you want, maybe.

Not sure it allows you to parameterize table names but the basic idea is codegen from sql queries so you are working with go code (autocompletion etc).

Agreed, but tools like https://sqlc.dev, which I mention in the article, are a good trade-off that allows you to have verified, testable, SQL in your code.

sqlc is not strictly a conventional ORM. It offers a unique approach by generating Go code from SQL queries. This allows developers to write SQL, which sqlc then converts into type-safe Go code, reducing the boilerplate significantly. It ensures that your queries are syntactically correct and type-safe. sqlc is ideal for those who prefer writing SQL and are looking for an efficient way to integrate it into a Go application.

I was browsing awesome-go for ideas on how to setup my data access layer when I stumbled on sqlc. It seemed like a great option. Code generation is a strategy often used in the Go ecosystem and making my queries safe at compile time was an idea I really liked. Knex was great, but it required of me that I test thoroughly my queries at runtime and that I sanitize my query results to ensure type safety within my application.

Now, we are going to generate the code. For this purpose, we are going to use sqlc.

https://github.com/sqlc-dev/sqlc — for use with //go:generate