Hibernate and Eclipse -- where to start?  
Author Message
dexter





PostPosted: 2005-2-25 12:43:00 Top

java-programmer, Hibernate and Eclipse -- where to start? Hi folks,

This began as a thread in comp.lang.java.programmer, but the focus has
really moved toward db stuff, so I repost bits here. For the full
thread, see "searching for yoda - a developer's tale" at:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.java.programmer/browse_frm/thread/aa12c688b702cc72/f769b8aebe720db5?_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcomp.lang.java.programmer%2Fthreads%3Fstart%3D0%26order%3Drecent%26&_doneTitle=Back&&d#f769b8aebe720db5

[...] how to fit Hibernate into Eclipse. Again, my problem statement
is that I naturally work with objects and object graphs and would
prefer to spend most of my development effort in this domain. I would
like as much as possible to have mapping and schema handled by the
tool. It *seems* to me that the "natural" mode for Hibernate is to
start with the mapping and use the tools to generate Java and schema.
This is still better than starting with a relational model.


The learning required for these technologies is what I'm confused
about. What exactly do I need to learn? I have a couple of Hibernate
books (the "in Action" is one of them and is, so far, quite good). The
API seems reasonable and not too intimidating. If I were still a
vi/JDBC coder, I would simply add Hibernate API as a tool and
incrementally move forward. But, now that I'm a full-fledged Eclipse
user and committed to focusing on the object model, I'd like to (1)
integrate Hibernate into Eclipse (via any of the afore-mentioned
plug-ins or others), and (2) try to work from the object side of ORM.


Online docs for the plug-ins to solve (1) seem weak. It's hard to tell
which plug-in does what, and what the advantages/disadvantages of each
might be. (2) seems to imply, from my reading, a need for XDoclet or
some other Attribute-Oriented solution to bury the necessary hibernate
tags into the code. Once again, the docs I've found seem weak. More to
the point, as I've mentioned, each new link leads to five others and
their associated technology requirements...It just gets out of hand
quickly. My hope is for someone here to point the way through the fog
and say "here's how to integrate Hibernate" or perhaps "don't bother
integrating Hibernate, use this basic config file and modify as
needed", etc.


Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

-don.