A persistence framework is middleware that assists and automates the storage of program data into databases, especially relational databases. It acts as a layer of abstraction between the application and the database, typically bridging any conceptual differences between the two.
Many persistence frameworks are also object-relational mapping (ORM) tools (e.g. Hibernate, MyBatis SQL Maps, Slick, and Java Ultra-Lite Persistence). Such frameworks map the objects in the application domain to data that needs to be persisted in a database. The mappings can be defined using either XML files or metadata annotations.
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References
Persistence framework Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA