An object oriented method and computer system for implementing a persistence mechanism. The persistence mechanism is adapted to effectuate data transfer between a software application and a relational database. The method identifies homes and relationships. Each identified home includes attributes of a table of the database. Each identified relationship has attributes describing a foreign key interaction between two homes of the identified homes. A provided home class is adapted to be instantiated to any of the identified homes. A query to transfer data between the application and the database is generated such that a first home of the identified homes is processed. The first home includes attributes of a first table of the database. The processing of the first home includes an instantiation of the home class to an instance of the first home by setting attributes of the first home.