Comparison of EclipseLink with Derby embedded vs OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server

Each of the following tables focuses on a specific database operation, where the last table presents average results comparison.

Speed comparison of JPA database persistence operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	5.5	5.2	3.7	4.8	4.6	5.0
Element Collection Test	3.0	2.8	1.7	2.2	2.4	2.5
Inheritance Test	5.3	4.6	3.5	3.2	4.4	3.9
Indexing Test	6.9	7.4	4.6	6.9	5.8	7.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.0	0.98	1.9	0.81	1.9	0.89
Multithreading Test	9.3	23.4	4.1	9.1	6.7	16.2
All Tests	5.3	7.4	3.2	4.5	4.3	5.9

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby embedded in persisting JPA entity objects to the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (9.3) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (23.4) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 2.5 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using graphs of objects with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.81) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (1.9) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 2.3 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

Speed comparison of JPA database retrieval operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	16.4	5.8	58.7	16.1	37.5	10.9
Element Collection Test	7.5	0.013	13.3	8.7	10.4	4.4
Inheritance Test	17.1	5.2	58.9	17.6	38.0	11.4
Indexing Test	14.2	4.8	67.4	18.7	40.8	11.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.8	0.27	5.7	0.35	4.2	0.31
Multithreading Test	28.0	11.9	48.7	23.3	38.4	17.6
All Tests	14.3	4.7	42.1	14.1	28.2	9.4

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with Derby embedded is much more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (9.4) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (28.2) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 3.0 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.013) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (7.5) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 577 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Speed comparison of JPA database query operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	53.4	failed	13.8	failed	33.6	failed
Element Collection Test	37.9	failed	4.4	failed	21.2	failed
Inheritance Test	37.4	failed	15.0	failed	26.2	failed
Indexing Test	7.6	failed	49.3	failed	28.4	failed
Multithreading Test	41.2	failed	6.1	failed	23.6	failed
All Tests	35.5	failed	17.7	failed	26.6	failed

OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server has failed in 10 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database update operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	6.4	4.9	6.7	3.9	6.5	4.4
Element Collection Test	5.4	0.033	6.2	4.6	5.8	2.3
Inheritance Test	6.5	4.8	9.2	4.9	7.8	4.9
Indexing Test	7.3	5.1	11.1	6.0	9.2	5.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.8	0.57	1.7	0.31	2.2	0.44
Multithreading Test	21.3	22.2	5.0	7.4	13.1	14.8
All Tests	8.3	6.3	6.6	4.5	7.5	5.4

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with Derby embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in updating JPA entity objects in the database.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.033) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (5.4) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 164 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Speed comparison of JPA database removal operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	4.6	4.6	4.7	5.3	4.6	5.0
Element Collection Test	2.5	0.032	1.4	2.8	1.9	1.4
Inheritance Test	3.9	4.3	4.5	4.6	4.2	4.4
Indexing Test	6.2	8.0	3.8	7.1	5.0	7.5
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.1	0.53	1.0	0.55	1.1	0.54
Multithreading Test	6.2	17.4	5.8	9.1	6.0	13.3
All Tests	4.1	5.8	3.5	4.9	3.8	5.4

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby embedded in deleting JPA entity objects from the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (6.2) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (17.4) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 2.8 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.032) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (2.5) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 78.1 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

Comparison of JPA/Database speed - the averages (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	EclipseLink Derby embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	17.3	5.1	17.5	7.5	17.4	6.3
Element Collection Test	11.3	0.72	5.4	4.6	8.3	2.6
Inheritance Test	14.0	4.7	18.2	7.6	16.1	6.2
Indexing Test	8.4	6.3	27.2	9.7	17.8	8.0
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.2	0.59	2.6	0.50	2.4	0.55
Multithreading Test	21.2	18.7	13.9	12.2	17.6	15.5
All Tests	12.7	6.0	14.5	7.0	13.6	6.5

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with Derby embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in performing JPA database operations. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (6.5) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (13.6) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 2.1 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.72) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (11.3) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 15.7 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)