Hibernate vs JPA

Difference Between Hibernate and JPA

Hibernate is a framework that is known as the Hibernate ORM framework. Hibernate, known as Hibernate ORM, is a framework that Red Hat designed. Its initial release happened on 23 May 2007; it is an object-relational mapping tool for the Java language. It is written in Java, and it supports a cross-platform JVM. Its licensing is done under GNU Lesser General Public. JPA is known as Java persistence API. JPA, which is actually known as Java Persistence Application Programming Interface OR Java application programming interface, is used to manage the relational data. JPA is basically is a specification. It deals with the object or relational metadata. The language of the JPA is JPQL (Java Persistence Query Language).

Hibernate

Hibernate’s primary features are to map the Java classes to database tables. Some key feature of Hibernate is given below:

• It’s an implementation of JPA guidelines.
• It helps to map Java classes to database tables and Java data types to SQL data types.
• Hibernate is the provider of JPA.

JPA

The initial release of JPA happened on 11 May 2006. Some Key features of JPA are given below:

• JPA is not an implementation; it is only a specification.
• It is a set of rules and guidelines for setting interfaces for the implementation of object-relational mapping.
• It requires a small number of classes and interfaces.
• It supports easier, cleaner and standardized object-relational mapping.
• It supports polymorphism and inheritance.
• In this dynamic and named queries can be added.

In one line, if we want to define the Hibernate and JPA, we can say that Hibernate is implementing all the JPA guidelines.

Head to Head Comparison between Hibernate and JPA (Infographics)

Below is the top 5 difference between Hibernate vs JPA :

Key Differences Between Hibernate and JPA

Both are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major difference :

• JPA is a set of a specification which implementation is provided in Hibernate.
• JPA is a standard, while Hibernate is not.
• In hibernate, we use Session for handling the persistence of data, while in JPA, we use Entity Manager.
• The query language in Hibernate is Hibernate Query language, while in JPA, the query language is Java Persistence query language.
• Hibernate is one of the most JPA providers.

Hibernate vs JPA Comparison Table

Below is the topmost Comparison between Hibernate vs JPA :

Hibernate	JPA
Hibernate is the object-relational mapping framework that helps to deal with data persistence.	It is the Java specification to manage the java application with relational data.
It’s is one of the best JPA providers.	It is the only specification that doesn’t deal with any implementation.
In this, we use Session for handling the persistence in an application.	In this, we use the Entity manager.
It is used to map Java data types with database tables and SQL data types.	It is the standard API that allows developers to perform database operations smoothly.
The Query language in this is Hibernate Query Language.	The query language of JPA is JPQL (Java Persistence Query Language)

Conclusion

This is all about the Hibernate vs JPA. These all are a practical topic in theoretical; there is not much data is available. The major difference between both is hibernated is the framework, while JPA is API specifications.

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