This paper is an overview of the issues that arise from implementing object persistence with a relational database. The basis for this paper is our recent experience with Object-Oriented projects that used relational database technology. Those experiences have shown us that the cost of mixing the two paradigms is very high and can seriously detract from the benefits of Object-Oriented development.

There is no question that object-to-relational solutions can be made to work, but at what price? This paper describes approaches to building object-to-relational bridges and highlights problems and compromises that typically arise. This is not a guide to implementing an object-to-relational bridge; instead, its purpose is to explain some fundamental issues and provide information that would be useful in making a database technology selection.

This paper is most pertinent in the context of programming languages that have little or no native support for object persistence, such as C++. Download this white paper to learn more.