ActiveRecord (Rails)

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ActiveRecord is a Ruby library that implements the like-named object-relational mapping (ORM) pattern described by Martin Fowler:

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An object that wraps a row in a database table or view, encapsulates the database access, and adds domain logic on that data.

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It creates a persistable domain model from business objects and database tables, where logic and data are presented as a unified package.

ActiveRecord adds inheritance and associations to the pattern above, solving two substantial limitations of that pattern. A set of macros acts as a domain language for the latter, and the SingleTableInheritance pattern is integrated for the former; thus, ActiveRecord increases the functionality of the active record pattern approach to database interaction.

ActiveRecord is the default model component of the Model-view-controller web-application framework Ruby on Rails, and is also a stand-alone ORM package for other Ruby applications. In both forms, it was conceived of by David Heinemeier Hansson, and has been improved upon by a number of contributors.