title: Java JDBC vs JPA for database application
body: <p>I'd like to preface that I'm somewhat of a novice looking for advice as I'm trying to build good habits.</p>
  
  <p>The application I'm developing right now is a heavily integrated database application. As I develop and explore and implement the requirements for each of my entities, I'm finding that my classes are just exploding with code to run queries in different ways on each of the entities. </p>
  
  <p>While it might not be a bad thing right now, in terms of maintenance, I foresee my application being a nightmare to debug and update.</p>
  
  <p>Do any JDBC experts out there have any suggestions for design patters that would help slim down the boiler-plate type code for handling all of these queries? Or should I stray from that completely and use JPA? </p>
  
  <p>I've tried to implement JPA in the past, but have had trouble with complex entity relationships. Should I just read a JPA book and go from there?</p>