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   <title>Chapter&nbsp;1.&nbsp; Introduction</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="css/docbook.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.72.0"><link rel="start" href="manual.html" title="Apache OpenJPA User's Guide"><link rel="up" href="jpa_overview.html" title="Part&nbsp;2.&nbsp;Java Persistence API"><link rel="prev" href="jpa_overview.html" title="Part&nbsp;2.&nbsp;Java Persistence API"><link rel="next" href="jpa_overview_intro_transpers.html" title="2.&nbsp; Lightweight Persistence"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter&nbsp;1.&nbsp;
        Introduction
    </th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="jpa_overview.html">Prev</a>&nbsp;</td><th width="60%" align="center">Part&nbsp;2.&nbsp;Java Persistence API</th><td width="20%" align="right">&nbsp;<a accesskey="n" href="jpa_overview_intro_transpers.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" id="jpa_overview_intro"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="jpa_overview_intro"></a>Chapter&nbsp;1.&nbsp;
        Introduction
    </h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="jpa_overview_intro.html#jpa_overview_intro_audience">1. 
            Intended Audience
        </a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="jpa_overview_intro_transpers.html">2. 
            Lightweight Persistence
        </a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
    <a class="indexterm" name="d0e47"></a>
    <a class="indexterm" name="d0e53"></a>
The Java Persistence API (JPA) is a specification from
Sun Microsystems for the persistence of Java objects to any relational
datastore. JPA requires J2SE 1.5 (also referred to as "Java 5") or
higher, as it makes heavy use of new Java language features such as annotations
and generics. This document provides an overview of JPA. Unless
otherwise noted, the information presented applies to all JPA implementations.
    </p><div class="note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
For coverage of OpenJPA's many extensions to the JPA specification,
see the <a href="ref_guide_intro.html" title="Chapter&nbsp;1.&nbsp; Introduction">Reference Guide</a>.
        </p></div><div class="section" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="jpa_overview_intro_audience"></a>1.&nbsp;
            Intended Audience
        </h2></div></div></div><p>
This document is intended for developers who want to learn about JPA
in order to use it in their applications. It assumes that you have a strong
knowledge of object-oriented concepts and Java, including Java 5 annotations and
generics. It also assumes some experience with relational databases and the
Structured Query Language (SQL).
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            Lightweight Persistence
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