JPA vs Hibernate: What is the difference between them?

Joy Anderson
Javarevisited
Published in
5 min readApr 12, 2024

When it comes to Java development, managing a database is a crucial aspect of creating powerful Java applications. So achieving this goal JPA and Hibernate come into this picture. Both are used for managing relation databases for Java applications.

In this blog, we will discuss the difference between JPA and Hibernate and describe their features, pros, cons, and many more.

What is JPA?

JPA stands for Java Perseverance API, which provides standard details for Java custom software development. JPA allows developers to outline Java classes to database tables, perform CRUD operations, and execute questions utilizing object-oriented sentence structure. In any case, JPA doesn’t give its possess inquiry language. Instep, JPA employments JPQL (Java Determination Inquiry Dialect), which is comparative to HQL, but with a few minor contrasts.

Features of JPA

Here are some features of JPA that streamline databases and enhance developer productivity:

Putaway Strategy Inquiry:

It could be a way to execute put-away strategy calls without the utilization of comments. To utilize this include, EntityManager is amplified by the create Stored Procedure Query strategy.

JPQL Improvements:

There are some additions made to JPQL. You can now use the ON catchphrase to further qualify the join conditions, the FUNCTION keyword to call database functions, and the TREAT keyword to perform a downcast of entities.

Bean Approval:

You have got to explain with the javax.validation.constraints explanations to the areas that require the validations. If the areas are fizzled within the approval, the values are not displayed to the back conclusion.

Shared Cache:

The JPA 2 form gives a standard for the shared cache instrument. In this component, substances can be put away within the determination layer to share among all other settings in case they are long-lived. JPA fulfills this by conjuring the standard cache interface from EntityManagerFactory.getCache() strategy.

Database Pattern Era:

Sometime recently JPA 2.1 form, designers were utilizing vendor-specific setup parameters for defining database setup within the persistence.xml record, but presently we have the taking-after parameters that offer assistance to set up the database.

What is Hibernate?

An open-source ORM architecture called Java Hibernate is implemented to bind Java classes to database tables. Java developers may construct database queries using object-oriented syntax rather than conventional SQL thanks to Hibernate’s high-level object-oriented query language (HQL). Hibernate also manages SQL statement creation, which saves a great deal of time and work for developers.

Hibernate allows developers to use Java methods and annotations to execute CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) actions on database entities. To decrease inquiries into the database and increase efficiency, Hibernate also offers caching methods.

Features of Hibernate

Open-source:

Developers can use and incorporate Hibernate’s source code into their Java applications. Hibernate is an open-source program. It is freely accessible to the general public.

Instantaneous Table Creation:

Programmers don’t have to worry about query development since Hibernate has a capability that automatically produces the table of data for the MySQL database. Hibernation occurs naturally.

Relationship:

Individually, one-to-one, one-to-many, and multiple-to-many connections are supported by the Hibernate framework.

Support Affiliation:

Hibernate is capable of supporting relationships of different compositions and aggregate affiliation types.

Compatibility for Pagination:

It’s really easy to enable pagination in hibernation.

The try-catch-exception block is not required:

Hibernate provides unchecked/run-time variations, unlike JDBC, therefore a try-catch-exception block and throws clause is not necessary.

Difference between JPA & Hibernate

  • Java Program Access (JPA) is in charge of hierarchical database management whereas hibernate is employed to store a Java object’s context in a database.
  • JPA is not the way it is implemented; it is the Java standard and Hibernate is a Java Persistence API that execution that adheres to accepted conventions.
  • JPA is covered by the javax.persistence package definition and other side hibernate described in a package called org. hibernate.
  • JPA communicates with the persisting unit’s information manager factory via the EntityManagerFactory interface. Hibernate creates Session instances, it makes use of the SessionFactory user interface.
  • JPA is not an implementation; instead, it is the Java standard. Hibernate is a Java Persistence API execution that adheres to accepted guidelines.
  • JPA makes use of an object-oriented query language used for database operations called Java Persistence Query Language (JPQL). Hibernate conducts database operations, it makes use of the object-oriented query languageHibernate Query Language (HQL).
  • JPA creates, reads, and deletes replicas of linked entity classes using the EntityManager interface. The persistent context interacts with this interface. Hibernate creates, reads, and deletes instances of mapped entity classes using a Session interface. It functions as an execution interface that connects Hibernates to a Java program.

Pros and Cons of JPA and Hibernate

Pros of JPA

  • By utilizing JPA, the work of dealing with the database is greatly reduced.
  • O/R mapping and database access processing make coding work simple.
  • The code needed to create description files is reduced using comments.

Cons of JPA

  • JPA is a specification rather than a product, you must obtain a framework from a provider to take advantage of these standards-based APIs.
  • Before the JPA standard becomes secure, it could need to undergo significant changes.

Pros of Hibernate

  • Associations, Collections, and Inheritance are supported by Hibernate.
  • When we are storing the entries in a relational database, Hibernate can automatically produce primary keys.
  • Because Hibernate’s query language, or Hibernate query language, is db-independent, the application we’re developing will continue to function even if the database is changed because HQL is likewise db-independent.

Cons of Hibernate

  • When batch processing, Hibernate’s performance is poor, hence it is recommended to use plain JDBC instead.
  • Understanding the code becomes challenging when there are mappings and joins between the tables since we have to specify the mapping and input data into the XML file.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, JPA offers an easier and more direct method of ORM, which makes it a perfect option for less complicated applications or those that need to be portable between multiple databases. With their many features, they have lessened the effort for Java developers. Both may be readily utilized to construct any Java program when applied appropriately. The distance between relational databases and Java objects has shrunk.

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Joy Anderson
Javarevisited

Joy Anderson: Tech consultant transforming businesses with expertise in digital solutions. Passionate about driving innovation and achieving digital excellence.