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# Implementation Options

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Persistence layer components may be generated as metadata (see "Understanding TopLink Metadata") from TopLink Workbench, or expressed as Java classes.

Oracle recommends using TopLink Workbench to create the necessary metadata (stored as XML). You can easily export and update the `project.xml` and `sessions.xml` files. This reduces development effort by eliminating the need to regenerate and recompile Java code each time you change the project. With TopLink Workbench, you write Java code only for your own application classes and any necessary amendment methods. For information about the XML structure of the `project.xml` and `sessions.xml` files, refer to the appropriate XML schemas (XSD) in the `<TOPLINK_HOME>``\config\xsds` directory.

To use Java code, you must manually write code for each element of the TopLink project including: project, login, platform, descriptors, and mappings. This may be more efficient if your application is model-based and relies heavily on code generation. Depending on the type of project you are creating, TopLink Workbench can export Java code for projects, tables, and your model source (see "Exporting Project Information").