Hibernate vs MyBatis: What are the differences?

1. Query Language Support: One key difference between Hibernate and MyBatis is the query language support they offer. Hibernate uses HQL (Hibernate Query Language), which is a powerful and expressive language similar to SQL but with some additional features. On the other hand, MyBatis uses SQL directly, which allows developers to have more control over the SQL statements and optimize them according to specific needs.

2. ORM vs. SQL Mapping: Another important difference is the approach they take for mapping Java objects to relational database tables. Hibernate is a full-fledged Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) framework that automatically maps Java objects to the database tables using metadata and configuration. In contrast, MyBatis is primarily a SQL Mapping framework where developers need to write XML or annotated SQL mapping files to explicitly define the mapping between objects and tables.

3. Lazy Loading: Hibernate supports lazy loading, which means it loads the associated entities or collections on-demand, only when needed. This allows efficient use of memory and improves performance when dealing with large datasets. MyBatis, on the other hand, does not provide built-in support for lazy loading. Developers need to manually handle the loading of associated entities if needed.

4. Caching Strategies: Hibernate provides various caching strategies, including first-level caching (session-level cache) and second-level caching (application-level cache), which can significantly improve the performance of database operations by reducing the number of queries and network round trips. MyBatis, although it supports caching, does not have built-in caching mechanisms like Hibernate. It relies on external caching frameworks like Memcached or Redis for caching.

5. Transaction Management: Hibernate has built-in transaction management capabilities that allow developers to easily manage database transactions using either programmatic or declarative approaches. MyBatis, on the other hand, does not provide built-in transaction management. Developers need to handle transactions manually using JDBC or other transaction management frameworks.

6. Ease of Use vs. Flexibility: Hibernate is often considered easier to use and provides more out-of-the-box functionality for common use cases. It simplifies the development process by automatically generating SQL queries and handling complex mappings. MyBatis, on the other hand, offers more flexibility and control for developers. It allows fine-grained control over SQL statements and database interactions, making it suitable for scenarios where precise control over SQL execution is required.

In summary, Hibernate and MyBatis differ in their query language support, approach to mapping objects to tables, lazy loading support, caching strategies, transaction management capabilities, and the trade-off between ease of use and flexibility.