Java Persistence with Hibernate

1.4. Object/relational mapping

Now that we've looked at the alternative techniques for object persistence, it's time to introduce the solution we feel is the best, and the one we use with Hibernate: ORM. Despite its long history (the first research papers were published in the late 1980s), the terms for ORM used by developers vary. Some call it object relational mapping, others prefer the simple object mapping; we exclusively use the term object/relational mapping and its acronym, ORM. The slash stresses the mismatch problem that occurs when the two worlds collide.

In this section, we first look at what ORM is. Then we enumerate the problems that a good ORM solution needs to solve. Finally, we discuss the general benefits that ORM provides and ...