[development] Data-driven database tables and updates

[sime]

This discussion about the virtues/evils of database application layers 
is weird. I don't know if I'm missing something.
When it comes down to it, this is *not* SQL:

    db_query('SELECT COUNT(vid) FROM {ec_product} WHERE vid = %d', 
$node->vid)

So any (potential) Drupal programmers who can't handle a database 
application layer have already left the building. Bye bye programmers, 
sorry you couldn't work out the whole %d %d %s %s %s thing!