Comparison of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded vs Hibernate with MySQL 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
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	13.3	3.6	6.9	1.6	10.1	2.6
Element Collection Test	8.6	1.6	5.3	0.72	7.0	1.1
Inheritance Test	12.2	3.7	5.8	1.6	9.0	2.7
Indexing Test	16.7	5.4	9.1	2.6	12.9	4.0
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	6.1	1.5	7.3	1.2	6.7	1.4
Multithreading Test	26.8	7.4	7.0	2.9	16.9	5.2
All Tests	13.9	3.9	6.9	1.8	10.4	2.8

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (2.8) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (10.4) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 3.7 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.72) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (5.3) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 7.4 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	21.8	3.0	30.1	11.0	25.9	7.0
Element Collection Test	0.0068	0.34	4.5	1.2	2.2	0.79
Inheritance Test	0.0025	1.3	2.0	14.5	0.98	7.9
Indexing Test	22.1	2.5	43.6	12.8	32.9	7.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.1	0.55	2.1	0.71	2.1	0.63
Multithreading Test	20.9	0.23	23.5	13.8	22.2	7.0
All Tests	11.1	1.3	17.6	9.0	14.4	5.2

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (5.2) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (14.4) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 2.8 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.23) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (20.9) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 90.9 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is slower, for instance, when using class inheritance in the object model with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (0.0025) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (1.3) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 520 times slower than Hibernate with MySQL server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	2.8	10.0	0.91	2.0	1.9	6.0
Element Collection Test	1.4	6.7	0.95	0.53	1.2	3.6
Inheritance Test	2.4	2.8	1.3	1.6	1.8	2.2
Indexing Test	15.4	0.44	34.3	2.0	24.9	1.2
Multithreading Test	1.4	2.1	0.53	0.98	0.95	1.5
All Tests	4.7	4.4	7.6	1.4	6.1	2.9

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in executing the tested JPA queries. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (2.9) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (6.1) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 2.1 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using database indexes with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.44) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (15.4) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 35.0 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (1.4) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (6.7) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 4.8 times slower than Hibernate with MySQL server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	12.0	0.73	5.3	1.6	8.6	1.2
Element Collection Test	0.017	0.39	3.7	1.2	1.8	0.78
Inheritance Test	0.0098	0.61	2.0	2.1	0.99	1.4
Indexing Test	9.3	0.81	5.5	2.6	7.4	1.7
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.5	0.69	1.6	0.40	2.1	0.54
Multithreading Test	20.0	0.63	3.7	3.0	11.8	1.8
All Tests	7.3	0.64	3.6	1.8	5.5	1.2

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in updating JPA entity objects in the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (1.2) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (5.5) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 4.6 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.63) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (20.0) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 31.7 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is slower, for instance, when using class inheritance in the object model with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (0.0098) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.61) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 62.2 times slower than Hibernate with MySQL server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	21.3	1.1	15.7	1.7	18.5	1.4
Element Collection Test	0.011	0.21	2.9	0.53	1.5	0.37
Inheritance Test	0.0070	0.65	3.5	1.8	1.8	1.2
Indexing Test	28.8	0.81	15.2	2.0	22.0	1.4
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.9	0.55	3.6	0.62	3.2	0.58
Multithreading Test	26.0	0.35	19.6	4.1	22.8	2.2
All Tests	13.2	0.61	10.1	1.8	11.6	1.2

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (1.2) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (11.6) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 9.7 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.35) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (26.0) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 74.3 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is slower, for instance, when using class inheritance in the object model with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (0.0070) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (0.65) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 92.9 times slower than Hibernate with MySQL server.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server	OpenJPA HSQLDB embedded	Hibernate MySQL server
Basic Person Test	14.3	3.7	11.8	3.6	13.0	3.6
Element Collection Test	2.0	1.8	3.5	0.84	2.7	1.3
Inheritance Test	2.9	1.8	2.9	4.3	2.9	3.1
Indexing Test	18.5	2.0	21.6	4.4	20.0	3.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.4	0.83	3.7	0.73	3.5	0.78
Multithreading Test	19.0	2.1	10.9	5.0	14.9	3.6
All Tests	10.2	2.1	9.2	3.2	9.7	2.7

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is much more efficient than Hibernate with MySQL server in performing JPA database operations. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (2.7) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (9.7) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 3.6 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using database indexes with small transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with MySQL database server (2.0) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded database (18.5) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with HSQLDB embedded is 9.2 times faster than Hibernate with MySQL server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)