Doctrine 2 is an object-relational mapper (ORM) for PHP 5.3.0+ that provides transparent persistence for PHP objects. It sits on top of a powerful database abstraction layer (DBAL). One of its key features is the option to write database queries in a proprietary object oriented SQL dialect called Doctrine Query Language (DQL), inspired by Hibernates HQL. This provides developers with a powerful alternative to SQL that maintains flexibility without requiring unnecessary code duplication.
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