Jakarta Persistence, also known as JPA, provides Java developers with an object/relational mapping facility for managing relational data in Java applications.

While powerful, ORM is not a silver bullet. In particular, it can lead to performance issues if misused. For simpler use cases or when fine-grained control over SQL is needed, alternatives like Spring Data JDBC might be more appropriate.

Several JPA implementations exist. One of the most popular is Hibernate.

Spring Data JPA builds on top of JPA to reduce boilerplate and make data access easier, offering features like automatic query generation and simplified repository definitions.