Spring ORM

 

Spring ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)

• Spring ORM is a part of the Spring Framework that helps establish connections between the database and Java objects.
• Here, ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) means mapping Java objects to database tables.
• Spring ORM mainly supports ORM tools like Hibernate, JPA (Java Persistence API), etc., to simplify data management within a Spring application.
• It also assists with database-related tasks like transaction management and exception translation.

Spring ORM, Hibernate, and Spring Data JPA are essential technologies for data storage and management and are commonly used in the Spring Framework. Using them together simplifies database-related tasks. Let’s go through each of these in detail and understand how they connect.

 Hibernate

• Hibernate is a popular ORM framework used to map Java objects to database tables.
• It can automatically generate SQL code, making CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations in the database easy.
• Hibernate includes special features like caching, lazy loading, and inheritance support, which make working with the database faster and more efficient.
• Hibernate is often used with Spring ORM to facilitate transaction and exception management via Spring.

 

Spring Data JPA

• Spring Data JPA is part of the Spring Data project, aimed at simplifying data access with the database.
• It provides a repository-based approach for database operations, allowing for minimal code to complete database tasks.
• With this tool, you only need to create a data repository interface, and Spring Data JPA will automatically implement the basic operations like save, findById, delete, etc.
• Another advantage is that you can create custom queries simply by naming methods, for example, writing findByFirstNameAndLastName(String firstName, String lastName) will generate the corresponding query.
• Spring Data JPA comes with Hibernate as its default JPA (Java Persistence API) provider.
• When you add the Spring Data JPA dependency to your Spring project, it automatically includes Hibernate as the default implementation for JPA.
• This means that when you define your entities and repositories in Spring Data JPA, Hibernate handles the underlying database operations without needing any additional configuration.

Connection Between These Technologies:

• Spring ORM acts as an integration layer, connecting ORM frameworks like Hibernate to a Spring application.
• Hibernate creates the connection between Java objects and database tables, enabling database operations.
• Spring Data JPA further simplifies the use of JPA, making database work in Spring applications easier.