I have used the DAL+/++ methods and find them very convenient if I need to just grab some quick data. And I see no problem with using it for small projects that do not require many data changes or a lot of new features being added in the future. However, if it is a big project or requires lots of queries to the db, a DAL generator is my tool of choice.

I personally was a big fan of the DAL Builder Pro, but since it does not help with DNN 4 dev, it has started to collect dust. A while back I was turned on to EntitySpaces and have not looked back since. Coming from the barbaric ASP/VB world, EntitySpaces has personally made me a better developer. While there is definitely a learning curve for using ES, after you get your head wrapped around it, which doesn't take long, it becomes painful to do development any other way. And my learning curve was simply I could not get over the fact that it really WAS that easy. It was in my nature to feel that I must write more code than was necessary and this app just did it for me. If I had to hand code a big DAL again, I think I would shoot myself in the head.

With moving targets for project requirements, ES is an invaluable tool. If not for the only reason to use ES, everytime the client changes their mind about the data structure, all you have to do is regenerate the generated code, and you are off to developing again. No need to hand code the changes in the DAL, ES does it all for you. I wish I could get back all of those countless hours of hand coded development of sproc/DAL changes. And, with the new admin grid view templates for DNN they have, it just doesn't seem right that development can be that easy.

// This uses your default config; e.g., Sql Server ("SQL")
OrdersCollection collection = new OrdersCollection();
collection.LoadAll();
 
// This uses your alternate config; e.g., Access ("ACCESS")
OrdersCollection collection = new OrdersCollection();
collection.es.Connection.Name = "ACCESS";
collection.LoadAll();