I am hosting a panel on Objects and Databases at OOPSLA in Portland this year, on Oct 24th. Here is the working abstract:

Java and C# have brought Object Oriented Programming to the masses, yet programmers continue to struggle with persistent storage of objects. Juggling object persistence with requirements for simplicity, flexibility, maintainability, transparency, scalability and five-nines uptime can rattle even the most hardened architect. Solutions are still evolving rapidly and increasing in complexity, with no end in sight. At the same time developers continue to experiment with alternatives, both old and new.

This panel will discuss the state of the union between objects and databases, as seen from the trenches, with focus on current trends in object-oriented databases and object-relational mapping.

Panelists include:

* Robert Greene, Versant
* Patrick Linskey, BEA
* Erik Meijer, Microsoft
* Ken Rugg, Progress Software
* Craig Russell, Sun Microsystems
* Bob Walker, GemStone Systems
* Christof Wittig, DB4objects

It should be a lively and interesting discussion. I hope some of you will consider attending. I may add a customer representative or two.