When I was trying to decide on iBATIS vs. Hibernate for my current project, it came down to this: Our DBAs require that all SQL sent to production databases be reviewed/analyzed/tuned before being placed into production. This forced us into "human written SQL" I think this is not an uncommon requirement in any kind of reasonably sized system.
We also have a domain model that is far different from our DB model - that alone may have pushed me in the iBATIS direction. Maybe we should publish some kind of "Is iBATIS Right for My Project" decision tree. I think it would look like this: If Your data store is a relational database && You are not trying to reuse an existing database designed for other applications && Your domain model is a reasonably close match to your DB model && Your developers have good control over DB design without DBA "enhancements" && Your DBAs do not require SQL reviews && Your developers are weak with SQL Then some kind of ORM tool (Hibernate, OJB, JDO, EJB3, etc.) could possibly be right for you Else - iBATIS is probably a better choice Not that I'm biased or anything :) Jeff Butler
