JPA - What exactly does it mean for an entity object to persist? What is the definition of persistence?

Question

I'm fairly new to java web applications and I am undertaking the task of learning JPA. However, it is not explicitly clear what it means for an entity object to persist. I think I have an idea, but I would rather not assume its meaning.

I am referencing the Oracle JPA Doc, but they continue to use the words like "persist" or "persistence" when describing persistent fields/properties. Can someone shed some light on this idea of persistence? And maybe define what it means for an instance of an entity to be persistent?

And if you could not use the word "persistent" (or any form of the word) in your definition that would be much appreciated. A simple answer would be great, but more in-depth explanations are definitely welcome! Thanks so much!

Answer 1

• Persistence simply means to Store Permanently.

  • In JAVA we work with Objects and try to store Object's values into database(RDBMS mostly).
  • JPA provides implementation for Object Relation Mapping(ORM) ,so that we can directly store Object into Database as a new Tuple.
  • Object, in JPA, are converted to Entity for mapping it to the Table in Database.

• So Persisting an Entity means Permanently Storing Object(Entity) into Database.

Hope this Helps!!