Norm

NORM is an acronym for Not an ORM. It is purpose-built to leverage the power of SQL with Kotlin.

SQL is a solid and battle-tested data access language. While most ORMs and database-access libraries try to abstract the SQL away, Norm works on the exact opposite principle. Norm gives SQL back the control it deserves.

Norm has two major components, a compile time code generator and a very lightweight runtime module (just ~2kb).

1. Norm’s code generator connects to our development database to infer schema and generate the data-access API. The generated Kotlin code gives us a type-safe database access layer with zero boilerplate code.

2. Norm’s Runtime provides extension methods to execute the generated code with ease.

Norm’s Design Choices

• Should allow us to execute arbitrarily complex and performant SQL with ease
• Reduce the boilerplate code to zero by generating all the required code in a separate source set
• Provide a type-safe database access API; whenever the database model changes, we get compilation errors rather than runtime exceptions
• No annotation soup, No bytecode magic. We should be able to see, modify, and check-in all the generated code (if needed)
• Differentiate between Query v/s Commands at the API level. Roughly speaking, queries return results without modifying the database state, whereas commands change the database state but do not return anything.
• Ensure data class properties are immutable by default