Comparison of Hibernate with Derby embedded vs EclipseLink 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
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	5.9	7.3	3.8	4.2	4.9	5.8
Element Collection Test	2.9	3.1	1.8	1.9	2.3	2.5
Inheritance Test	5.3	6.9	3.7	5.0	4.5	5.9
Indexing Test	7.0	10.0	4.8	6.8	5.9	8.4
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.9	3.5	1.7	3.3	1.8	3.4
Multithreading Test	10.5	31.8	3.7	14.5	7.1	23.1
All Tests	5.6	10.4	3.3	6.0	4.4	8.2

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

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (3.7) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (14.5) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 3.9 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	14.2	6.8	16.4	17.2	15.3	12.0
Element Collection Test	4.4	0.026	4.9	0.020	4.6	0.023
Inheritance Test	10.3	6.0	18.6	19.7	14.4	12.9
Indexing Test	10.0	5.6	16.4	19.5	13.2	12.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.6	0.47	3.0	0.61	2.8	0.54
Multithreading Test	19.3	13.5	19.3	27.8	19.3	20.6
All Tests	10.1	5.4	13.1	14.1	11.6	9.8

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

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (0.020) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (4.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 245 times faster than EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	49.3	55.5	6.8	7.8	28.1	31.6
Element Collection Test	37.6	15.4	2.7	0.028	20.1	7.7
Inheritance Test	24.1	54.9	7.6	11.5	15.9	33.2
Indexing Test	5.3	0.077	14.8	10.0	10.1	5.1
Multithreading Test	39.7	55.3	6.1	12.0	22.9	33.7
All Tests	31.2	36.2	7.6	8.3	19.4	22.3

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slightly more efficient than Hibernate with Derby embedded in executing the tested JPA queries.

A large performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (24.1) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (54.9) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 2.3 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (0.028) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (2.7) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 96.4 times slower than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	4.5	6.2	3.2	4.1	3.8	5.1
Element Collection Test	3.9	0.080	3.1	0.028	3.5	0.054
Inheritance Test	4.6	6.4	4.5	6.1	4.5	6.2
Indexing Test	4.6	6.5	5.5	7.0	5.1	6.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.7	0.90	1.2	0.50	2.0	0.70
Multithreading Test	11.6	36.0	2.6	9.1	7.1	22.5
All Tests	5.3	9.3	3.3	4.5	4.3	6.9

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

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (2.6) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (9.1) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 3.5 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (0.028) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (3.1) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 111 times slower than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	3.8	5.7	4.2	5.7	4.0	5.7
Element Collection Test	2.3	0.025	1.5	stopped	1.9	0.012
Inheritance Test	4.0	5.5	4.3	5.4	4.2	5.4
Indexing Test	5.5	10.4	3.6	10.0	4.6	10.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.74	0.016	0.96	0.013	0.85	0.015
Multithreading Test	5.6	26.3	4.9	16.8	5.3	21.6
All Tests	3.7	8.0	3.3	6.3	3.5	7.2

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than Hibernate with Derby embedded in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (3.5) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (7.2) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 2.1 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (5.6) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (26.3) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 4.7 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (0.025) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (2.3) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 92.0 times slower than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server	Hibernate Derby embedded	EclipseLink PostgreSQL server
Basic Person Test	15.5	16.3	6.9	7.8	11.2	12.1
Element Collection Test	10.2	3.7	2.8	0.40	6.5	2.1
Inheritance Test	9.7	15.9	7.7	9.5	8.7	12.7
Indexing Test	6.5	6.5	9.0	10.7	7.8	8.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.0	1.2	1.7	1.1	1.8	1.2
Multithreading Test	17.3	32.6	7.3	16.0	12.3	24.3
All Tests	10.5	13.1	6.1	7.8	8.3	10.5

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slightly more efficient than Hibernate with Derby embedded in performing JPA database operations.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (7.3) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (16.0) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 2.2 times faster than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with PostgreSQL database server (0.40) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (2.8) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with PostgreSQL server is 7.0 times slower than Hibernate with Derby embedded.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)