Java Persistence with Hibernate is divided into three major parts.

In Part 1, the book introduces the object/relational paradigm mismatch and explains the fundamentals behind object/relational mapping. Then, readers are walked through a hands-on tutorial to get you started with your first Hibernate, Java Persistence, or EJB 3.0 project. You look at Java application design for domain models and at the options for creating object/relational mapping metadata.

Mapping Java classes and properties to SQL tables and columns is the focus of Part 2. You explore all basic and advanced mapping options in Hibernate and Java Persistence, with XML mapping files and Java annotations. It shows you how to deal with inheritance, collections, and complex class associations. Finally, the book discusses integration with legacy database schemas and some mapping strategies that are especially tricky.

Part 3 is all about the processing of objects and how you can load and store data with Hibernate and Java Persistence. The book introduces the programming interfaces, how to write transactional and conversation-aware applications, and how to write queries. It later focuses on the correct design and implementation of layered Java applications, and the most common design patterns that are used with Hibernate, such as the Data Access Object (DAO) and EJB Command patterns. You'll see how you can test your Hibernate application easily and what other best practices are relevant if you work an object/relational mapping software.

Finally, you are introduced to the JBoss Seam framework, which takes many Hibernate concepts to the next level and enables you to create conversational web applications with ease.