Comparison of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded vs DataNucleus with H2 embedded

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 HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	32.6	19.2	13.1	8.0	22.9	13.6
Element Collection Test	15.1	6.6	8.2	2.8	11.7	4.7
Inheritance Test	25.5	15.6	13.6	4.4	19.5	10.0
Indexing Test	29.6	24.4	18.8	11.8	24.2	18.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	13.8	9.2	15.6	6.2	14.7	7.7
Multithreading Test	37.4	34.9	13.0	7.1	25.2	21.0
All Tests	25.6	18.3	13.7	6.7	19.7	12.5

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in persisting JPA entity objects to the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (4.4) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (13.6) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 3.1 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	24.8	13.2	16.4	13.5	20.6	13.3
Element Collection Test	11.3	6.4	10.8	8.9	11.0	7.7
Inheritance Test	21.7	12.2	21.0	12.7	21.3	12.4
Indexing Test	11.9	8.1	21.5	16.5	16.7	12.3
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.6	10.6	4.7	20.9	4.1	15.8
Multithreading Test	19.8	13.3	21.5	9.9	20.6	11.6
All Tests	15.5	10.6	16.0	13.7	15.7	12.2

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is slightly more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (9.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (21.5) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.2 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

On the other hand, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is slower, for instance, when using graphs of objects with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (4.7) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (20.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 4.4 times slower than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	3.6	4.7	0.88	1.4	2.2	3.1
Element Collection Test	3.4	5.0	1.7	2.4	2.6	3.7
Inheritance Test	2.9	3.8	1.0	1.6	1.9	2.7
Indexing Test	9.9	0.0041	21.7	1.8	15.8	0.91
Multithreading Test	1.1	1.2	0.58	0.79	0.82	1.0
All Tests	4.2	3.0	5.2	1.6	4.7	2.3

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in executing the tested JPA queries. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (2.3) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (4.7) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.0 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using database indexes with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (0.0041) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (9.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2,415 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	14.2	10.0	5.0	3.9	9.6	6.9
Element Collection Test	10.1	7.6	5.6	3.9	7.8	5.8
Inheritance Test	13.4	9.4	7.5	4.4	10.5	6.9
Indexing Test	10.7	10.6	6.1	5.9	8.4	8.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.7	5.9	2.5	3.7	3.1	4.8
Multithreading Test	23.9	failed	3.8	failed	13.9	failed
All Tests	12.7	8.7	5.1	4.4	8.9	6.5

DataNucleus with H2 embedded has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions).

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in updating JPA entity objects in the database.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	26.1	4.2	17.5	1.3	21.8	2.8
Element Collection Test	9.1	4.9	5.2	1.6	7.1	3.2
Inheritance Test	21.4	4.0	17.7	1.3	19.6	2.7
Indexing Test	33.0	7.5	16.3	1.9	24.7	4.7
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	5.4	5.6	8.2	4.1	6.8	4.8
Multithreading Test	38.5	failed	28.6	failed	33.5	failed
All Tests	22.3	5.2	15.6	2.0	18.9	3.6

DataNucleus with H2 embedded has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions).

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (3.6) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (18.9) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 5.2 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (1.3) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (17.7) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 13.6 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

Comparison of database storage efficiency (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	41.4	27.0	41.4	27.0	41.4	27.0
Element Collection Test	46.9	22.4	46.9	22.4	46.9	22.4
Inheritance Test	41.4	27.0	41.4	27.0	41.4	27.0
Indexing Test	48.4	31.6	49.2	32.1	48.8	31.9
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	28.5	20.0	21.4	15.0	25.0	17.5
Multithreading Test	51.9	33.9	10.3	9.2	31.1	21.5
All Tests	43.1	27.0	35.1	22.1	39.1	24.6

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in using disk space.

A large gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized score of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (22.4) to the normalized score of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (46.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.1 times more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	DataNucleus H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	20.2	10.3	10.6	5.6	15.4	7.9
Element Collection Test	9.8	6.1	6.3	3.9	8.0	5.0
Inheritance Test	17.0	9.0	12.2	4.9	14.6	6.9
Indexing Test	19.0	10.1	16.9	7.6	18.0	8.9
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	6.6	7.8	7.8	8.7	7.2	8.3
Multithreading Test	24.1	16.5	13.5	5.9	18.8	11.2
All Tests	16.5	9.6	11.3	6.0	13.9	7.8

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in performing JPA database operations.

A large performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (4.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (12.2) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.5 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)