Hibernate and JPA

Topics
• Hibernate Introduction

• Benefits of Hibernate

• Object Relational Mapping (ORM)

• Comparison with JDBC API

• Java Persistence API (JPA)

Hibernate
• A Java open-source framework for
simplifying the CRUD database operations

• A framework for persisting/saving Java

objects in database

• Build around 2001 by Gavin King as an

alternative to EJB2

• Official website: www.hibernate.org

Benefits of Hibernate
 Productivity: Hibernate eliminates much of the groundwork and lets you concentrate on the
business problem and reduces the development time.

 Maintainability: Hibernate reduces boilerplate code, making system more understandable and
easier to refractor.

 Performance: Hibernate provides the object-to-Relational mapping (ORM) automation and allows
multiple performance optimizations.

 Vendor Independence: Hibernate can help mitigate risks associated with vendor lock-ins. This
enables a certain level of portability.
Object Relational
Mapping (ORM)
Object-To-Relational Mapping
• Object relational mapping (ORM) is a programming technique for converting data between an
object-oriented platform and a relational database platform.

• ORM allows easy transfer of data between RDBMS tables and the objects that are part of the
application code.

• The developer defines mapping between Java class and database table.
Problem with JDBC
Id: int save(ob
j) Selec id firstName
firstName:
t lastName
String
Insert
lastName: Updat
String get(id) e
Delet
Java e
Object
RDBMS
Manually Written Table
Code
□ Takes effort
□ Error-prone
□ Needs to be
tested
□ Needs to be
rewritten when
the database
Using ORM
Id: int save(ob
j) id firstName
firstNam
lastName
e: String OR
lastNam M
e: get(id)
String
Java
Object
RDBMS
External Library Table
(Jar)Takes no extra effort;
□
simply add as dependency
□ Extremely less chances of
bugs
□ Well-tested
□ Just mention which database
you are using; it will adapt
Using ORM
□ Tasks that require developers’ efforts while working with the plain JDBC API can be
done automatically by ORM.

□ ORM does not replace JDBC API but uses it internally.

● Eg: To fetch data from the RDBMS table, ORM uses the SELECT query of JDBC
API, gets the ResultSet and maps it to Collection objects.

□ It supports primary key generation strategies based on the underlying RDBMS.

□ It also supports database neutral SQL queries to operate on RDBMS.

□ Examples of Java ORM frameworks : Hibernate (for RDBMS) and Toplink (for
both RDBMS and non-RDBMS).
ORM and JDBC

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Java Persistence
API (JPA) and
Hibernate
What is a Java Specification?
□ Java provides JDBC API as a collection of interfaces that is implemented by the JDBC
Drivers.

□ Without JDBC API, code is directly dependent on the JDBC Drivers,

● switching from one RDBMS to another is difficult, because of tight coupling.

● JDBC Drivers may name methods differently, which implies one has to learn how to
work with different drivers.

□ JDBC standardises everything while working with JDBC drivers.

□ To work with a database, plug the driver while running the application =>JDBC API is a
Java Specification.
Java Specification
□ Specifications in Java define a set of interfaces, method declarations or
annotations provided by the Java technology as a standard set of rules.

□ Vendor companies must provide code implementation according to specifications,

which ensures uniformity between different implementations.

□ Some examples of specifications are as follows:

● JDBC Specification: It is implemented by different RDBMS vendors such as Oracle

and MySQL.

● Servlet Specification: It is implemented by different Servlet containers such as

Tomcat and JBoss.
Java Persistence API (JPA)

□ Do not write code to implementations (concrete classes), but to specifications

(interfaces).

□ Are we coding to implementations while working with ORM tools?

□ What if we want to change the ORM tool in future?

□ Does Java provide a specification for ORM as well?

□ Yes, and that specification is called JPA (Java Persistence API).

Java Persistence API (JPA)

□ JPA is a specification for an ORM technique, and Hibernate is one of its

implementations, which is an ORM tool.

● No two concrete modules are tightly coupled with each other.

● Interaction with each other happens via a specification.

□ JDBC API is a specification to connect Java applications with RDBMS, and MySQL
Connector/J is one of its implementations, which is a JDBC Driver.

□ Write code to specifications (or interfaces) to make your application loosely

coupled.
Java Persistence API (JPA)
• The JPA specification defines the following:

• A facility for specifying mapping metadata—how persistent classes and their

properties relate to the database schema?
 Using Annotations (modern way) or xml (legacy way)

• APIs for performing basic CRUD operations on instances of persistent classes

• A language and APIs for specifying queries that refer to classes and properties of
classes
 Using Java Persistence Query Language (JPQL) that looks similar to SQL
JPA - ORM

MySQ
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Java ORM Drive
JPA JDBC MySQ
Applicati Tool r
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Concrete
Specificati
Implementati
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References
• Hibernate: Everything Data https://hibernate.org/orm/

• What is an ORM, how does it work? and how should I use one?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1279613/what-is-an-orm-how-d
oes-it-work-and-how-should-i-use-one/1279678#1279678

• Introduction to Java Persistence API

https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/tutorial/doc/bnbpz.html