ORM
- Dart course
- Advanced
- Lesson 47/83
- 5 min
Learn Dart database with the drift ORM.
drift ORM
drift is a reactive ORM for Dart. It is built on top of sqflite. You define tables as Dart classes; drift offers type-safe queries and code generation. Instead of raw SQL you use a Dart API.
A table is defined as class Notes extends Table { TextColumn get title => text()(); }. Table is the base class; TextColumn is a text column, text()() is the column-producing helper. In this lesson we learn drift table definitions.
Table definition
In drift a table is a Dart class extending Table. Each column is a getter: TextColumn get title => text()(); is a text column, IntColumn get id => integer().autoIncrement()(); is an auto-incrementing integer column.
From this definition drift generates type-safe query methods via code generation. You query with calls like db.select(notes).get(); no SQL needed. In this lesson we define the Notes table.
Practice Define the Notes table
Add import 'package:drift/drift.dart';. Define class Notes extends Table { ... } with TextColumn get title => text()(); inside. In main add print('drift: Notes table') and print('Column: title (text)').
Starter code
// import the drift package
// define the Notes table (Table class, title text column)
void main() {
// print the drift table info
}Sample solution
import 'package:drift/drift.dart';
class Notes extends Table {
TextColumn get title => text()();
}
void main() {
print('drift: Notes table');
print('Column: title (text)');
}Expected output
drift: Notes table Column: title (text)
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 The drift import
import 'package:____/drift/drift.dart';import 'package:drift/drift/drift.dart';Explanation: the drift package is imported via package:drift/drift.dart.
2 Match the drift parts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
drift |
Reactive ORM |
Table |
Table class |
TextColumn |
Text column |
text()() |
Column builder |
3 What does drift provide?
- Web server
- HTTP client
- Type-safe ORM Correct answer
- File compression
Explanation: drift provides a type-safe ORM.