<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
 Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
 distributed with this work for additional information
 regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
 to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
 "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
 with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
 software distributed under the License is distributed on an
 "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
 KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
 specific language governing permissions and limitations
 under the License.
-->
<chapter id="ref_guide_intro">
    <title>
        Introduction
    </title>
    <para>
OpenJPA is a JDBC-based implementation of the JPA standard.
This document is a reference for the configuration and use of OpenJPA.
    </para>
    <section id="ref_guide_intro_audience">
        <title>
            Intended Audience
        </title>
        <para>
This document is intended for OpenJPA developers. It
assumes strong knowledge of Java, familiarity with the eXtensible Markup
Language (XML), and an understanding of JPA. If you are not familiar with JPA,
please read the <link linkend="jpa_overview_intro">JPA Overview</link> before
proceeding.
<!--
### TUTORIAL
We also strongly recommend taking OpenJPA's hands-on
<link linkend="tutorials">tutorials</link> to get comfortable with OpenJPA
basics.
-->
        </para>
        <para>
Certain sections of this guide cover advanced topics such as custom
object-relational mapping, enterprise integration, and using OpenJPA with
third-party tools. These sections assume prior experience with the relevant
subject.
        </para>
    </section>
</chapter>