I do not get the problem of coding from the ground up. I have been doing it that way for over a decade - see no problem with coding SQL DDL and DML and doing it by hand, wiring the database architecture into business objects and creating a UI. I have also witnessed what happens when there is a disconnect between the data architecture and business and UI architecture - you end up with a overly complicated system that is, for all intents and purposes, unmaintainable and unintelligible. There is no reason to thumb your nose at SQL - its a language just like C# or VB or Java. You are better off knowing your way around it than ignoring it.