open source ORM products include [[Doctrine (PHP)|Doctrine]], [[Hibernate (Java)|Hibernate]], [[iBATIS]] and JPA implementations such as [[Apache OpenJPA]].
== Advantages ==
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The advantage of using data access objects is the relatively simple and rigorous separation between two important parts of an application that can but should not know anything of each other, and which can be expected to evolve frequently and independently.
Changing business logic can rely on the same DAO interface, while changes to persistence logic do not affect DAO clients as long as the interface remains correctly implemented.
All details of storage are hidden from the rest of the application (see [[information hiding]]). Thus, possible changes to the persistence mechanism can be implemented by just modifying one DAO implementation while the rest of the application isn't affected. DAOs act as an intermediary between the application and the database. They move data back and forth between objects and database records.
[[Unit testing]] the code is facilitated by substituting the DAO with a [[test double]] in the test, thereby making the tests non-dependent on the persistence layer.
In the non specific context of the [[Java (programming language)|Java]] programming language, Data Access Objects as a design concept can be implemented in a number of ways. This can range from a fairly simple interface that separates the data access parts from the application logic, to frameworks and commercial products.
DAO coding paradigms can require some skill. Technologies like [[Java Persistence API]] and [[Enterprise JavaBeans]] come built into application servers and can be used in applications that use a JavaEE application server. Commercial products like [[TopLink]] are available based on [[Object-relational mapping]] (ORM). Popular open source ORM products include [[Doctrine (PHP)|Doctrine]], [[Hibernate (Java)|Hibernate]], [[iBATIS]] and JPA implementations such as [[Apache OpenJPA]].
