1. A method of persistently storing objects in a relational database, comprising the steps of: (a) representing a class definition as a table in the relational database, wherein an instance of the class is represented by a tuple of the table, a property of the instance is represented by a column of the table, and one or more object assist columns are associated with the property; and (b) identifying one or more methods of the class definition associated with the property based on the object assist column.