Oracle
TopLink was historically a well-known "Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)"" tool, but its usage has declined significantly in favor of more modern alternatives. However, it still exists and is used in certain legacy and enterprise Oracle-based applications.
Current Status of Oracle TopLink
- TopLink is Still Available
- Oracle still maintains TopLink as part of its technology stack.
- It is included in Oracle WebLogic Server and Oracle Fusion Middleware.
- It is available as EclipseLink, which is the reference implementation of Jakarta Persistence (formerly JPA - Java Persistence API).
- Shift to EclipseLink
- Oracle donated TopLink's core to the Eclipse Foundation, leading to the development of EclipseLink.
- EclipseLink has replaced TopLink as Oracle’s preferred JPA provider.
- TopLink Grid (which integrates with Coherence for distributed caching) and TopLink Data Services are still part of Oracle offerings.
- Comparison with Modern ORM Solutions
- EclipseLink (a direct evolution of TopLink) is used in Jakarta EE applications.
- Hibernate is far more popular for Java ORM and is the de facto standard for JPA.
- MyBatis is preferred in scenarios where fine-grained SQL control is needed.
Should You Use Oracle TopLink in 2025?
- If you are working on an Oracle WebLogic-based enterprise solution, TopLink (or EclipseLink) may still be relevant.
- If you need the most up-to-date ORM solution with the largest community support, Hibernate is generally the best choice.
- If you are using Jakarta EE, EclipseLink is a good alternative.
- For modern cloud-based applications, you may want to consider Spring Data JPA with Hibernate.
Conclusion:
Oracle TopLink is still available, but its usage has largely been replaced by EclipseLink in the Oracle ecosystem and Hibernate in the broader Java ecosystem. If you're starting a new project, EclipseLink or Hibernate would be better choices than TopLink.