EJB vs Hibernate: Difference and Comparison

We might not be aware, but if we look at our daily life, it revolves around different applications or software. It’s very important to understand the uses of different frameworks.

Underlying architectures and which database to use for the storage of different data. EJB and Hibernate are components for different purposes when building an application or software.

Key Takeaways

  1. EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) is a server-side component model for Java EE applications. At the same time, Hibernate is an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool that allows Java developers to map Java objects to relational database tables.
  2. EJB provides complete services such as transaction management, security, and concurrency control, while Hibernate provides only ORM-related functionality.
  3. EJB is integrated into Java EE application servers, while Hibernate can be used in any Java environment.

EJB vs Hibernate 

The difference between EJB and Hibernate is that EJB is a type of Java Bean and is used to encapsulate the business logic of any java application and connection to the database, i.e. it is the default way of writing enterprise applications whereas

EJB vs Hibernate 1

Hibernate is a type of ORM framework that maps the classes or objects present in the application to the database tables, i.e., How to operate and persist the database. 

EJB refers to the kind of server-side software that commercially encapsulates its logic for an enterprise application. An EJB is a web container.

That communicates to other JVM(Java virtual machine) hosted on different servers, i.e. it is the default way of writing enterprise applications. The full form of EJB is enterprise java bean.

It is a run-time container for beans that are mainly deployed on the server that’s why it’s also called a server-side component. Hibernate is a kind of OMR framework whose job is to do the mapping.

If seen in detail, it is related to a relational database that does the mapping of its data. And this mapping is done with the help of tables of the database.

It also provides query and retrieval facilities related to data. It is also helpful to generate calls.

Comparison Table

Parameters of comparisonEJBHibernate 
DefinitionEjb encapsulates the business logic of an application.Hibernate maps the classes or objects to the tables of the database.
Support Entity RelationshipIt supports the Entity-relationship through Java 5.0 annotationsIt supports the Entity-relationship through mapping files and annotations in JavaDoc
Callback SupportIt supports the callback through Entity ListenerIt supports the Callback through a life cycle, interceptor
AnnotationsJava 5.0 Annotation used to support Attribute Oriented Programming  XDoclet Annotations used to support Attributed Oriented Programming
Queries EJB QL used to express the QueriesHQL used to express the Queries

What is EJB?

The full form of EJB is Enterprise Java Bean, an acronym for it. Its basic objective is to enhance the secure, robust, and scalable distributed applications provided by Sun Microsystems.

To use it information about it is found with the help of the RMI tutorial. Many things are required, such as an application server, i.e. Jboss, Glassfish, Weblogic, Websphere, etc. this is how it works :

  • Complete maintenance of life cycle.
  • The protection.
  • Overseeing transactions.
  • Object pooling.

That is, the entire work of this application depends on the server, so its other name is also a server-side component.

EJB refers to the kind of server-side software that commercially encapsulates its logic for an enterprise application. An EJB is a web container used with a database.

It is the default way of writing enterprise applications. It is a run-time container for beans which is mainly deployed by the application server.

There is also a certain time when this application must be used. Remote access is required to run this application.

In another sense, this application is distributed. Subsequently, it should also be scalable as it fully supports load balancing, clustering, and failover.

Along with this, it also requires encapsulated business logic. This application is separated with the help of the presentation and persistence layers.

What is Hibernate?

Hibernate Object Relational Mapping(ORM) is an object-mapping tool, especially for the Java programming language. It provides an underlying architecture for mapping.

An object-oriented class or model of a relational database(RDBMS). It simplifies the development of java applications when it comes to interaction with databases.

Interna uses JDBC API to interact with the database, which the individual downloads as .exe in the machine. Hibernate uses Java Persistence API, also called JPA specification for data persistence.

JPA is a java specification that provides standard and few functionalities to ORM tools like hibernate. There are quite a few advantages of using hibernate frameworks like Open Source and lightweight.

Fast performance because it uses caching internally and has two caching levels. Using HQL no need to write specific database queries because it generates database-independent queries.

It also provides a way to check the Database status and statics of the query, like which query is taking a long time to execute. Hibernate provides an automated way to create the tables programmatically.

So there is no need to go to the database and create it manually. It was introduced in 2001, and its origin is said to be Gowin King, who started it with the help of EJB2 style Entity Bean.

Main Differences Between EJB and Hibernate

The distinguishing factor between EJB and Hibernate relations can be summed up on the following grounds:

  1. Ejb encapsulates the business logic of an application and needs an application server to host, whereas Hibernate maps the classes or objects to the tables of the database.
  2. EJB supports the Entity-relationship through Java 5.0 annotations, whereas Hibernate supports the Entity-relationship through mapping files and annotations in JavaDoc.
  3. EJB supports the callback through Entity Listener, whereas It supports the Callback through a life cycle interceptor.
  4. In EJB, Java 5.0 Annotation is used to support Attribute Oriented Programming, whereas, in XDoclet, Annotations are used to support Attributed Oriented Programming.
  5. In EJB, QL is used to express the database Queries, whereas, in Hibernate, HQL is used to express the Queries.
References
  1. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/583854.582443
  2. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/503209.503259
  3. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bTwfHzMxtQcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=what+is+hibernate+in+java&ots=DueZLkRLID&sig=wlYPPYfSUMZsl8pSh_Xx-GCHu5U&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20hibernate%20in%20java&f=false

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023

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2 thoughts on “EJB vs Hibernate: Difference and Comparison”

  1. The article provides a comprehensive comparison between EJB and Hibernate, offering insight into the differences between the two frameworks and their intended uses. It is important to understand the underlying architectures and databases for different applications.

    Reply
  2. EJB and Hibernate serve different purposes when building applications or software. EJB provides complete services like transaction management and security, while Hibernate focuses on ORM-related functionality.

    Reply

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