Comparison of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded vs EclipseLink with Derby 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	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	32.6	5.5	13.1	3.7	22.9	4.6
Element Collection Test	15.1	3.0	8.2	1.7	11.7	2.4
Inheritance Test	25.5	5.3	13.6	3.5	19.5	4.4
Indexing Test	29.6	6.9	18.8	4.6	24.2	5.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	13.8	2.0	15.6	1.9	14.7	1.9
Multithreading Test	37.4	9.3	13.0	4.1	25.2	6.7
All Tests	25.6	5.3	13.7	3.2	19.7	4.3

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby embedded in persisting JPA entity objects to the database. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (4.3) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (19.7) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 4.6 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

A large performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (1.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (15.6) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 8.2 times faster 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
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	24.8	16.4	16.4	58.7	20.6	37.5
Element Collection Test	11.3	7.5	10.8	13.3	11.0	10.4
Inheritance Test	21.7	17.1	21.0	58.9	21.3	38.0
Indexing Test	11.9	14.2	21.5	67.4	16.7	40.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.6	2.8	4.7	5.7	4.1	4.2
Multithreading Test	19.8	28.0	21.5	48.7	20.6	38.4
All Tests	15.5	14.3	16.0	42.1	15.7	28.2

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

A large performance gap has been detected when using simple basic entities with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (16.4) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (58.7) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 3.6 times faster than Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	3.6	53.4	0.88	13.8	2.2	33.6
Element Collection Test	3.4	37.9	1.7	4.4	2.6	21.2
Inheritance Test	2.9	37.4	1.0	15.0	1.9	26.2
Indexing Test	9.9	7.6	21.7	49.3	15.8	28.4
Multithreading Test	1.1	41.2	0.58	6.1	0.82	23.6
All Tests	4.2	35.5	5.2	17.7	4.7	26.6

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with Derby embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded in executing the tested JPA queries. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (4.7) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (26.6) reveals that in these tests, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 5.7 times faster than Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (1.1) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (41.2) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby embedded is 37.5 times faster than Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	14.2	6.4	5.0	6.7	9.6	6.5
Element Collection Test	10.1	5.4	5.6	6.2	7.8	5.8
Inheritance Test	13.4	6.5	7.5	9.2	10.5	7.8
Indexing Test	10.7	7.3	6.1	11.1	8.4	9.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.7	2.8	2.5	1.7	3.1	2.2
Multithreading Test	23.9	21.3	3.8	5.0	13.9	13.1
All Tests	12.7	8.3	5.1	6.6	8.9	7.5

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

A large performance gap has been detected when using simple basic entities with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (6.4) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (14.2) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.2 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	26.1	4.6	17.5	4.7	21.8	4.6
Element Collection Test	9.1	2.5	5.2	1.4	7.1	1.9
Inheritance Test	21.4	3.9	17.7	4.5	19.6	4.2
Indexing Test	33.0	6.2	16.3	3.8	24.7	5.0
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	5.4	1.1	8.2	1.0	6.8	1.1
Multithreading Test	38.5	6.2	28.6	5.8	33.5	6.0
All Tests	22.3	4.1	15.6	3.5	18.9	3.8

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby embedded in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (3.8) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (18.9) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 5.0 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

A large performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (1.0) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (8.2) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 8.2 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	41.4	51.1	41.4	51.0	41.4	51.1
Element Collection Test	46.9	38.5	46.9	39.4	46.9	38.9
Inheritance Test	41.4	48.0	41.4	47.9	41.4	48.0
Indexing Test	48.4	51.6	49.2	52.3	48.8	52.0
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	28.5	13.4	21.4	11.7	25.0	12.6
Multithreading Test	51.9	52.6	10.3	8.4	31.1	30.5
All Tests	43.1	42.5	35.1	35.1	39.1	38.8

The results above show that in general Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is slightly more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby embedded in using disk space.

A large gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized score of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (13.4) to the normalized score of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (28.5) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 2.1 times more efficient 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
	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded	Hibernate HSQLDB embedded	EclipseLink Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	20.2	17.3	10.6	17.5	15.4	17.4
Element Collection Test	9.8	11.3	6.3	5.4	8.0	8.3
Inheritance Test	17.0	14.0	12.2	18.2	14.6	16.1
Indexing Test	19.0	8.4	16.9	27.2	18.0	17.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	6.6	2.2	7.8	2.6	7.2	2.4
Multithreading Test	24.1	21.2	13.5	13.9	18.8	17.6
All Tests	16.5	12.7	11.3	14.5	13.9	13.6

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

A large performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby embedded database (2.6) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded database (7.8) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with HSQLDB embedded is 3.0 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby embedded.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)