<pre>
Author/s : Will Iverson
Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
Category : J2EE
Review by : Thomas Paul
Rating : 7 horseshoes</pre>
Hibernate is a popular object-relational mapping (ORM) system for
Java programmers. As any Java programmer who has worked with a SQL database knows, trying to link Java objects to a relational database is not a trivial exercise. Hibernate simplifies the task by providing the functionality to generate Java classes and link seamlessly to a database.
The book starts with an introduction to Hibernate including some details on installation. The author looks at how Hibernate can generate a database schema or generate Java classes depending on where you are starting to build your application. XDoclet is discussed with the author pointing out some of the issues with using class annotation. Next, the author gives a good explanation of the details of Hibernate. The remaining chapters look at performance, caching, design issues and other advanced topics. Throughout the book there are many code samples that help to further explain the use of Hibernate.
Complaints... Although performance is discussed, the cost of using Hibernate on performance is not.
I would have liked to see some comparisons of Hibernate versus stored procedures, for example. Also, the weaknesses of an ORM are not discussed. Anyone who has worked with an ORM knows that at a certain level of complexity they start to fall apart and make an application overly complicated. It would have been nice for the author to discuss these issues and at least point towards solutions.
Overall, the book serves as a well-written and clearly explained basic introduction to Hibernate.
More info at Amazon.com More info at Amazon.co.uk
