Pick the one you like ... or use both

Hey,

In today's email, I want to give you a quick answer to a common question about Hibernate's mapping definitions.

You can define your mapping in an XML file or annotate your entity classes.

People often ask me which approach is better and if they can mix them.

The short answers are:

1. Both are fine, but I like annotation-based mappings better. They are easier to read, and I have all the information in the same place.

2. Yes, you can mix them, even for the same class. If there's a conflict, the XML-based mapping wins.
   This is great if you need to adjust your mappings for different installations or when you want to migrate from XML- to annotation-based mapping definitions.

If you're looking for more detailed answers, please read this article.

Speak soon,

Thorben

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