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# Understanding Object-Relational Mappings

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An object-relational mapping transforms certain object data member types to structured data source representations optimized for storage in specialized object-relational databases (such as Oracle Database). Object-relational mappings let you map an object model into an object-relational data model.

Do not confuse object-relational mappings with relational mappings (see "Understanding Relational Mappings"). A relational mapping transforms any object data member type to a corresponding relational database (SQL) data source representation in any supported relational database. Relational mappings let you map an object model into a relational data model. In general, you can use relational mappings with any supported relational database. You can only use object-relational mappings with specialized object-relational databases optimized to support object-relational data source representations.

This chapter describes:

- Object-Relational Mapping Types