EclipseLink
| Company type | Open source project |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Predecessor | Oracle TopLink |
| Founder | Oracle Corporation (contributed codebase) |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Persistence services framework for Java |
| Owner | Eclipse Foundation |
| Website | www |
EclipseLink is the open source project for persistence services managed by the Eclipse Foundation. It offers a flexible framework that allows Java developers to connect with diverse data sources, including relational databases, web services, Object-XML mapping (OXM), and enterprise information systems (EIS). EclipseLink is compatible with several persistence standards such as:
- Jakarta Persistence (JPA)
- Jakarta XML Binding (JAXB)
- Jakarta Connectors (JCA)
- Service Data Objects (SDO)
The foundation of EclipseLink stems from Oracle's TopLink product, where Oracle contributed the complete TopLink 11g codebase—excluding EJB 2 Container-Managed Persistence and certain Oracle Application Server-specific integrations—to establish the EclipseLink initiative. This differs from the TopLink Essentials contribution to GlassFish, which omitted important enterprise capabilities. Additionally, the project integrated the TopLink Mapping Workbench user interface.
EclipseLink serves as Oracle and TopLink’s primary persistence technology and is slated for integration into upcoming major versions of Oracle TopLink and Oracle Application Server. It also supports deployment within an OSGi framework.
Importantly, Sun Microsystems designated EclipseLink as the reference implementation for JPA 2.0, a role that Oracle Corporation has upheld for JPA 2.1 and later JPA versions.
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