Thanks for all the info. I'm not looking for something lighter or simpler (I really do like Class::DBI), rather trying to figure out a good balance between "close to the SQL" style programming and "hide the SQL" style, they aren't mutually exclusive. The same goes for "close to the DBI style". For example, I can use Prof->search_query in some contexts and $sth=Prof->sql_query in other contexts with the same Class::DBI object (e.g. if I want to pass the $sth to DBI::Format or some other module that knows how to handle statement handles).