Chapter 1. The iBATIS philosophy

Structured Query Language (SQL) has been around for a long time. It’s been over 35 years since Edgar F. Codd first suggested the idea that data could be normalized into sets of related tables. Since then, corporate IT has invested billions of dollars into relational database management systems (RDBMSs). Few software technologies can claim to have stood the test of time as well as the relational database and SQL. Indeed, after all this time, there is still a great deal of momentum behind relational technology and it is a cornerstone offering of the largest software companies in the world. All indicators suggest that SQL will be around for another 30 years.

iBATIS is based on the idea that there is value in relational databases and SQL, and that it is a good idea to embrace the industrywide investment in SQL. We have experiences whereby the database and even the SQL itself have outlived the application source code, and even multiple versions of the source code. In some cases we have seen that an application was rewritten in a different language, but the SQL and database remained largely unchanged.

1.1. A hybrid solution: combining the best of the best

1.2. Where iBATIS fits

1.3. Working with different database types

1.4. How iBATIS handles common database challenges

1.5. Summary