Conclusion
Getting to grips with a new technology often comes down to understanding a few key concepts. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, you may have to read a few 600-page books to get those key concepts. In this context, ORM is no different from other technologies. I’ve seen projects where the level of knowledge of this key area is practically zero. This is a dangerous level of skill depletion.
One of the key concepts in ORM is the difference between entity and value types. Only when you understand these can you begin to design effective ORM solutions. It’s entirely likely that your problem domain includes many examples of entity and value types. It’s not too difficult to create logical associations between these entity types.
Another key area to understand is the relationship between your ORM Java code and the final database schema. This is the bridge between the worlds of Java and relational database technology.
The final concept to grasp is the use of SQL to manipulate your database. This is a key skill in delivering an effective solution. I hope this article continues to help you demystify the areas of object relation mapping and Java persistence. With a bit of effort, it can provide you with a starting point for delving more deeply into this increasingly important topic.