Here is how it goes with java persistence. You have just learnt java, now you want to persist some records, you get to learn JDBC. You are happy that you can now save your data to a database. Then you decide to write a bit bigger application. You realize that it has become tedious to try, catch , open connection, close connection , transfer data from resultset to your bean .... So you think there must be an easier way. In java there is always an alternative. So you do some googling and in a short while you discover ORM, and most likely, hibernate. You are so exited that you now dont have to think about connections. Your tables are being created automatically. You are able to move very fast. Then you decide to undertake a really big project, initially you move very fast and you have all the crud operations in place. The requirements keep comming, then one day you are cornered. You try to save but its not cascading to the objects children. Somethings done work as explained in the books that you have read. You dont know what to do because you didnt write the hibernate libraries. You wish you had written the SQL yourself. Its now time to rethink again... As you mature , you realize that the best way to interact with the Database is through SQL. You also realize that some tools get you started very fast but they cant keep you going for long. This is my story. I am now a very happy ibatis/User.
