Object-relational mapping encom-passes a wide range of techniques and libraries for handling bi-directional serialization of runtime objects in an object-oriented system within a relational database. As is often the case with Java, a number of options are available, many of them open source. In this article, we examine a mature alternative named SimpleORM (http://www.sim-pleorm.org/), which was created and is maintained by Anthony Berglas. We have adopted SimpleORM as our primary database integration library for a number of reasons: SimpleORM acts as a direct conduit to the underlying JDBC data source. While there are internal caching mechanisms for performance reasons, there are no intermediate storage mechanisms visible to the user of the library. SimpleORM operations have the effect of acting directly on the underlying database. SimpleORM lives up to its name in terms of providing well-defined functionality in a small and clear package. The sim-pleorm.jar weighs in at 112 KB and has no dependencies. The implementation easily supports the web site's claims that it is a practical option for developers to step into the library code to diagnose and fix any issues they might have.
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