Welcome to the Propel Website!
Propel is an open-source Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) library written in PHP5, written on top of PDO. It allows you to access your database using a set of objects, providing a simple API for storing and retrieving data. Propel allows web application developers to work with databases in the same way they work with other classes and objects in PHP.
To provide the best performance, Propel uses a two-step approach:
- Define your database in a simple XML format. With one command, Propel generates a set of optimized PHP classes from this model.
- At runtime, use these classes to interact with the database using an object-oriented syntax. There's no performance lost to initialization or to on-the-fly database metadata queries.
Propel takes care of all the repetitive tasks for you:
- You never have to worry about escaping data or type-casting results. Propel protects you from SQL injection.
- You don't have to worry about database connections or writing SQL -- unless you want to.
- All the key concepts of ORM layers are implemented in Propel: validators, behaviors, single table inheritance, reverse engineering an existing database, nested sets, nested transactions, lazy loading, LOB, you name it.
Propel is built for developers who need to keep control of their code:
- Extensibility is at the heart of Propel's design; whatever you need to customize, Propel allows you to do so in a snap.
- Propel can get out of your way for when you need custom queries or hyper-optimized transactions.
- If you need to change your RDBMS in the course of the project, rebuild your model and you're ready to go. Propel supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MSSQL, and Oracle.
- The code generated by Propel is well commented, IDE-friendly and easy to use.
The Propel project started in 2005, and already powers thousands of websites. Throughly documented, backed by many tutorials across the web, it also benefits from an enthusiast community that provides rapid support for both beginner and hardcore developers.
Do you want to know more? Use the menu on the right side of the page and dive in!
