Database abstraction layer
lastmod 2026-11-10created 2017-11-192 edits
A Database abstraction layer is a software layer that sits between an application and a database and hides the connection methods and SQL dialect differences of specific DBMSs. With this layer in place, backends such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite can be swapped without major changes to higher-level code. ORM goes further by handling table rows as objects, and DAO is a pattern that separates data access code into dedicated objects.