Comparison of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded vs Hibernate with Derby 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 HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	27.1	3.8	17.2	3.0	22.2	3.4
Element Collection Test	17.2	2.0	8.2	1.3	12.7	1.7
Inheritance Test	26.7	3.4	11.9	3.0	19.3	3.2
Indexing Test	30.6	4.8	18.6	4.1	24.6	4.4
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	20.0	1.8	15.9	1.6	18.0	1.7
Multithreading Test	32.5	6.9	11.4	3.9	22.0	5.4
All Tests	25.7	3.8	13.9	2.8	19.8	3.3

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with Derby server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (3.3) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (19.8) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 6.0 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (1.8) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (20.0) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 11.1 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	24.4	3.8	36.0	8.4	30.2	6.1
Element Collection Test	14.9	1.0	19.1	1.0	17.0	1.0
Inheritance Test	22.8	3.5	40.0	9.7	31.4	6.6
Indexing Test	20.7	3.2	38.7	9.5	29.7	6.4
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	8.7	0.91	14.2	1.2	11.4	1.1
Multithreading Test	24.2	7.8	28.0	13.4	26.1	10.6
All Tests	19.3	3.4	29.3	7.2	24.3	5.3

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with Derby server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (5.3) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (24.3) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 4.6 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (1.0) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (19.1) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 19.1 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	2.9	34.0	0.88	4.1	1.9	19.1
Element Collection Test	3.2	33.8	1.4	0.64	2.3	17.2
Inheritance Test	2.6	20.5	1.1	5.0	1.9	12.8
Indexing Test	21.5	2.0	33.3	9.2	27.4	5.6
Multithreading Test	1.1	36.2	0.52	5.1	0.82	20.6
All Tests	6.3	25.3	7.4	4.8	6.9	15.1

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby server is more efficient than EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded in executing the tested JPA queries. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (6.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (15.1) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with Derby server is 2.2 times faster than EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (1.1) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (36.2) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby server is 32.9 times faster than EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded.

On the other hand, Hibernate with Derby server is slower, for instance, when using database indexes with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (2.0) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (21.5) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby server is 10.8 times slower than EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	17.9	2.9	7.0	2.5	12.5	2.7
Element Collection Test	14.6	2.3	8.3	1.5	11.4	1.9
Inheritance Test	16.2	2.9	9.7	3.5	13.0	3.2
Indexing Test	12.0	3.0	6.8	4.2	9.4	3.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	4.7	1.2	3.4	0.58	4.0	0.91
Multithreading Test	24.4	6.8	4.4	2.5	14.4	4.6
All Tests	15.0	3.2	6.6	2.5	10.8	2.8

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with Derby server in updating JPA entity objects in the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (2.8) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (10.8) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 3.9 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (2.3) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (14.6) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 6.3 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	32.3	2.9	20.3	3.5	26.3	3.2
Element Collection Test	14.3	1.7	6.0	0.87	10.2	1.3
Inheritance Test	29.2	2.9	23.9	3.6	26.6	3.2
Indexing Test	55.3	3.7	27.1	3.6	41.2	3.7
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	6.8	0.69	14.1	0.70	10.4	0.70
Multithreading Test	52.9	6.2	28.4	5.1	40.6	5.6
All Tests	31.8	3.0	20.0	2.9	25.9	3.0

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with Derby server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (3.0) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (25.9) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 8.6 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (0.70) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (14.1) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 20.1 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server	EclipseLink HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate Derby server
Basic Person Test	20.9	9.5	16.3	4.3	18.6	6.9
Element Collection Test	12.8	8.2	8.6	1.1	10.7	4.6
Inheritance Test	19.5	6.6	17.3	5.0	18.4	5.8
Indexing Test	28.0	3.3	24.9	6.1	26.5	4.7
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	10.0	1.2	11.9	1.0	11.0	1.1
Multithreading Test	27.0	12.8	14.6	6.0	20.8	9.4
All Tests	20.1	7.1	15.7	4.0	17.9	5.6

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with Derby server in performing JPA database operations. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (5.6) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (17.9) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 3.2 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby database server (1.0) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded database (11.9) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB embedded is 11.9 times faster than Hibernate with Derby server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)