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3.2.5.3.3. Many-to-many

3.2.5.3.3.1. Definition
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A many-to-many association is defined logically using the @ManyToMany annotation. You also have to describe the association table and the join conditions using the @JoinTable annotation. If the association is bidirectional, one side has to be the owner and one side has to be the inverse end (ie. it will be ignored when updating the relationship values in the association table): 
@Entity
public class Employer implements Serializable {
    @ManyToMany(
        targetEntity=org.hibernate.test.metadata.manytomany.Employee.class,
        cascade={CascadeType.PERSIST, CascadeType.MERGE}
    )
    @JoinTable(
        name="EMPLOYER_EMPLOYEE",
        joinColumns=@JoinColumn(name="EMPER_ID"),
        inverseJoinColumns=@JoinColumn(name="EMPEE_ID")
    )
    public Collection getEmployees() {
        return employees;
    }
    ...
}
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@Entity
public class Employee implements Serializable {
    @ManyToMany(
        cascade = {CascadeType.PERSIST, CascadeType.MERGE},
        mappedBy = "employees",
        targetEntity = Employer.class
    )
    public Collection getEmployers() {
        return employers;
    }
}
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We've already shown the many declarations and the detailed attributes for associations. We'll go deeper in the @JoinTable description, it defines a name, an array of join columns (an array in annotation is defined using { A, B, C }), and an array of inverse join columns. The latter ones are the columns of the association table which refer to the Employee primary key (the "other side").
As seen previously, the other side must not describe the physical mapping: a simple mappedBy argument containing the owner side property name bind the two.
3.2.5.3.3.2. Default values
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As any other annotations, most values are guessed in a many to many relationship. Without describing any physical mapping in a unidirectional many to many the following rules applied. The table name is the concatenation of the owner table name, _ and the other side table name. The foreign key name(s) referencing the owner table is the concatenation of the owner table name, _ and the owner primary key column(s). The foreign key name(s) referencing the other side is the concatenation of the owner property name, _, and the other side primary key column(s). These are the same rules used for a unidirectional one to many relationship. 
@Entity
public class Store {
    @ManyToMany(cascade = CascadeType.PERSIST)
    public Set<City> getImplantedIn() {
        ...
    }
}

@Entity
public class City {
    ... //no bidirectional relationship
}
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A Store_City is used as the join table. The Store_id column is a foreign key to the Store table. The implantedIn_id column is a foreign key to the City table.
Without describing any physical mapping in a bidirectional many to many the following rules applied. The table name is the concatenation of the owner table name, _ and the other side table name. The foreign key name(s) referencing the owner table is the concatenation of the other side property name, _, and the owner primary key column(s). The foreign key name(s) referencing the other side is the concatenation of the owner property name, _, and the other side primary key column(s). These are the same rules used for a unidirectional one to many relationship. 
@Entity
public class Store {
    @ManyToMany(cascade = {CascadeType.PERSIST, CascadeType.MERGE})
    public Set<Customer> getCustomers() {
        ...
    }
}

@Entity
public class Customer {
    @ManyToMany(mappedBy="customers")
    public Set<Store> getStores() {
        ...
    }
}
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A Store_Customer is used as the join table. The stores_id column is a foreign key to the Store table. The customers_id column is a foreign key to the Customer table.
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