How can you minimize the impact of the persistence layer on your domain models?

This post answers the question ‘How can you minimize the impact of the persistence layer on your domain models?’ posted on reddit /r/dotnet, showing how I would implement a solution in the purest OOP [sic] possible with C#.

(Note: The factory and persistence classes are simplified for demonstration purposes.)

So here is the code. It is tested with .NET 5 on Windows 10.

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace Example.Domain
{
    // Let's pretend this namespace is in a separate assembly so that
    // the 'internal' scope modifier applies

    public interface IAccount
    {
	string Username { get; }

	bool IsEnabled { get; }

	void Disable();
    }

    public interface ISavedAccount : IAccount
    {
	int Id { get; }
	
	void Enable();
    }

    // Not accessible from outside assembly
    internal abstract class AccountBase : IAccount
    {
	public string Username { get; protected set; }

	public bool IsEnabled { get; protected set; }

	internal AccountBase(string username)
	{
	    Username = username;
	}

	public void Disable()
	{
	    IsEnabled = false;
	}
    }

    // Not accessible from outside assembly
    internal class MyAccount : AccountBase
    {
	internal MyAccount(string username)
	    : base(username)
	{
	}
    }

    // Not accessible from outside assembly
    internal class MySavedAccount : AccountBase, ISavedAccount
    {
	public int Id { get; private set; }

	internal MySavedAccount(int id, string username, bool isEnabled)
	    : base(username)
	{
	    Id = id;
	    if (isEnabled) 
	    {
		Enable();
	    }
	}

	public void Enable()
	{
	    IsEnabled = true;
	}
    }

    public static class AccountFactory
    {
	public static IAccount Create(string username)
	{
	    return new MyAccount(username);
	}

	public static ISavedAccount Create(int id, string username, bool isEnabled)
	{
	    return new MySavedAccount(id, username, isEnabled);
	}
    }
}

namespace Example.Persistence
{
    using Example.Domain;

    public static class AccountStorage
    {
	static readonly DataTable dt;

	static AccountStorage()
	{
	    dt = new DataTable();
	    dt.Columns.Add("id", typeof(int));
	    dt.Columns.Add("username", typeof(string));
	    dt.Columns.Add("enabled", typeof(bool));
	}

	public static DataRow AddAccountRow(ref IAccount account)
	{
	    var dr = dt.NewRow();
	    dr["id"] = dt.Rows.Count+1;
	    dr["username"] = account.Username;
	    dr["enabled"] = account.IsEnabled;
	    dt.Rows.Add(dr);

	    // This variable does not point to a valid account after it has been saved
	    account = null;

	    return dr;
	}

	public static DataRow UpdateAccountRow(ISavedAccount account)
	{
	    var dr = FindAccountRow(account.Id);
	    dr["username"] = account.Username;
	    dr["enabled"] = account.IsEnabled;
	    return dr;
	}

	public static DataRow FindAccountRow(int id)
	{
	    for (var i=0; i<dt.Rows.Count; ++i)
	    {
		DataRow dr = dt.Rows[i];
		if (((int)dr["id"]) == id)
		{
		    return dr;
		}
	    }
	    return null;
	}
    }
}

namespace Example.Client
{
    // Let's pretend this namespace is in a separate assembly so that it
    // doesn't see the 'internal' definitions from the Example.Domain
    // namespace

    using Example.Domain;
    using Example.Persistence;

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
	    var account = AccountFactory.Create("joebloggs");

	    // FAIL! A new account does not have an id
	    // Debug.Assert(account.Id > 0);

	    // FAIL! A new account cannot be enabled
	    // account.Enable();

	    var newrow = AccountStorage.AddAccountRow(ref account);

            Debug.Assert(account == null, "The account object is no longer valid");

	    Debug.Assert(((int)newrow["id"]) > 0, "The 'id' value is set");
	    Debug.Assert("joebloggs".Equals(newrow["username"]), "The 'username' value is set");
	    Debug.Assert(! (bool)newrow["enabled"], "The 'enabled' value is not set");

	    var savedaccount = AccountFactory.Create((int)newrow["id"], (string)newrow["username"], (bool)newrow["enabled"]);
	    savedaccount.Enable();
	    Debug.Assert(savedaccount.IsEnabled, "The account is enabled");

	    var unused = AccountStorage.UpdateAccountRow(savedaccount);

	    var loadedrow = AccountStorage.FindAccountRow(savedaccount.Id);
	    var loaded = AccountFactory.Create((int)loadedrow["id"], (string)loadedrow["username"], (bool)loadedrow["enabled"]);

	    Debug.Assert(loaded.Id > 0, "An id is assigned");
	    Debug.Assert("joebloggs".Equals(loaded.Username), "The username is set correctly");
	    Debug.Assert(loaded.IsEnabled, "The account is enabled");
        }
    }
}

The line below could be questionable because we pass ownership of object account to the persistence layer, but we could also assume that there is a contract that formalises this.

	    // This variable does not point to a valid account after it has been saved
	    account = null;