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Entity Framework VS Hibernate ORM

Compare Entity Framework VS Hibernate ORM and see what are their differences

Entity Framework logo Entity Framework

See Comparison of Entity Framework vs NHibernate.

Hibernate ORM logo Hibernate ORM

Hibernate team account. Hibernate is a suite of open source projects around domain models. The flagship project is Hibernate ORM, the Object Relational Mapper.
  • Entity Framework Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18
  • Hibernate ORM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-25

Entity Framework features and specs

  • Productivity
    Entity Framework automates database-related code generation, reducing the amount of boilerplate code developers must write and maintain. This allows developers to work more efficiently and focus more on business logic.
  • Abstraction
    It abstracts the database interaction details, enabling developers to work with higher-level .NET objects instead of raw SQL queries, resulting in clearer and more manageable code.
  • Code First Approach
    This allows developers to define their database schema using C# classes, making it easy to evolve the database alongside the codebase using migrations.
  • Support for Multiple Databases
    Entity Framework supports a wide range of relational databases, including SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MySQL, providing flexibility and choice to the developers.
  • Change Tracking
    It provides automatic change tracking of entity objects, simplifying the process of updating data in the database without manually tracking object changes.

Possible disadvantages of Entity Framework

  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction layer can lead to performance overhead compared to plain SQL queries, as the generated queries might not be as optimized as handcrafted SQL.
  • Complexity
    For simple or small applications, the complexity introduced by using an ORM like Entity Framework might be unnecessary and could complicate the architecture.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers need to learn the specific concepts and configurations of Entity Framework, which can be time-consuming compared to traditional database access methodologies.
  • Debugging Difficulty
    Debugging issues can be more challenging because of the abstraction, making it sometimes difficult to trace the exact query being executed and pinpoint performance bottlenecks.
  • Limited SQL Features
    While Entity Framework supports a wide range of SQL functionalities, there are advanced features specific to certain databases that may not be fully supported or could require custom implementation.

Hibernate ORM features and specs

  • Abstraction
    Hibernate provides a high level of abstraction around database operations, which allows developers to focus on business logic rather than database interactions. This leads to reduced boilerplate code and improved productivity.
  • Automatic Schema Generation
    It offers the ability to automatically generate database schemas based on the entity mappings, which simplifies the process of setting up and maintaining the database schema.
  • Caching
    Hibernate includes a robust caching mechanism which can significantly improve application performance by reducing the number of database queries needed.
  • Lazy Loading
    Hibernate supports lazy loading, meaning that data is only fetched from the database when it is actually needed, which can help optimize performance and reduce unnecessary data retrieval.
  • Database Independence
    With Hibernate, applications can be more easily adapted to work with different underlying databases, as it abstracts away vendor-specific SQL code, promoting portability.

Possible disadvantages of Hibernate ORM

  • Complexity
    Hibernate can introduce additional complexity, especially for developers unfamiliar with ORM concepts, requiring a steep learning curve to effectively implement and manage.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction layer Hibernate provides can introduce some performance overhead compared to native SQL, particularly in complex queries requiring fine-tuned optimization.
  • Debugging and Profiling Challenges
    Since Hibernate abstracts the database interactions, it can make it more difficult to debug and profile applications, particularly in relation to understanding and optimizing the generated SQL queries.
  • Memory Consumption
    The use of caching and session management within Hibernate can result in increased memory consumption, which needs careful management, particularly in large-scale applications.
  • Schema Update Limitations
    Automatic schema generation has its limits, and complex database updates or custom table designs might require manual intervention, limiting the automation benefits.

Entity Framework videos

Entity Framework Best Practices - Should EFCore Be Your Data Access of Choice?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Entity Framework 6 Tutorial: Learn Entity Framework 6 from Scratch
  • Review - Getting the best out of Entity Framework Core - Jon P Smith

Hibernate ORM videos

No Hibernate ORM videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Entity Framework and Hibernate ORM)
Web Frameworks
63 63%
37% 37
Development
91 91%
9% 9
Databases
49 49%
51% 51
Backend Development
38 38%
62% 62

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Entity Framework should be more popular than Hibernate ORM. It has been mentiond 15 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Entity Framework mentions (15)

  • Create a Simple .NET Workflow App From Scratch – Your Ultimate Guide
    For the simplicity we will use MSSQLProvider to fetch the data from the database. This class has basic functionality, if you want to create complex database queries, for example JOIN, you'd better use something like Entity Framework. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Entity Framework Core in .NET 7 7️⃣
    I only wanted to give a simple preview of what can be done with Entity Framework, but if this is something that interests you and you want to go further in-depth with all the possibilities, I recommend checking out the official docs where you can also find a great tutorial which will guide you through building your very own .NET Core web application. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Got an internship, need help with .NET
    Entity Framework documentation hub - Entity Framework is a modern object-relation mapper that lets you build a clean, portable, and high-level data access layer with .NET (C#) across a variety of databases, including SQL Database (on-premises and Azure), SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Azure Cosmos DB. It supports LINQ queries, change tracking, updates, and schema migrations. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How to create a "Database Project" that can be used across multiple .NET apps?
    You can create the DAL using your existing code or start using a Object Relational Mapper like Entity Framework which will do a lot of the work for you, check this out here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/ also check out LINQ. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Website with Database. use C#
    And, possibly (not strictly speaking necessary but very useful) Entity framework as a backend part of it. Source: about 2 years ago
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Hibernate ORM mentions (10)

  • Create a simple REST application using Quarkus
    This quick start guide gets you up and running with Quarkus on macOS, including necessary tools. You will build a basic database application using Quarkus, Java 17, PostgreSQL, and Hibernate ORM Panache. While Hibernate ORM is the standard, powerful Jakarta Persistence implementation capable of complex mappings, it doesn't always make the most common tasks trivial. Hibernate ORM with Panache is Quarkus's solution... - Source: dev.to / about 6 hours ago
  • How to Monitor SQL Performance in Spring Boot
    Slow SQL queries can cripple your Spring Boot application. Monitoring SQL performance is essential to keep your app running smoothly, and tools like Spring Boot Actuator, Hibernate Statistics, and Micrometer make it easier. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Let's write a simple microservice in Clojure
    Postgres-based persistence with a pretty straightforward mapping of SQL queries to Clojure functions. If you have ever used Java with Hibernate ORM for data persistence, you will feel relief after working with the database in Clojure with Hugsql. The model of the persistence layer is much simpler and easier to understand without the need for Session Cache, Application Level Cache and Query Cache. Debugging is... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • MediatR and where to put the command classes
    This is so close to perfection. For me though application shouldn't have a coupling with entity framework. If you wanted to switch out EF to use hibernate (https://hibernate.org/orm/)? you're application is coupled to EF and would require a lot more work. Source: about 2 years ago
  • In One Minute : Hibernate
    Hibernate is the umbrella for a collection of libraries, most notably Hibernate ORM which provides Object/Relational Mapping for java domain objects. In addition to its own "native" API, Hibernate ORM is also an implementation of the Java Persistence API (jpa) specification. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Entity Framework and Hibernate ORM, you can also consider the following products

Sequelize - Provides access to a MySQL database by mapping database entries to objects and vice-versa.

DevExpress XPO - Free-of-Charge (without Technical Support), also see GitHub and Benchmarks.

Hibernate - Hibernate an open source Java persistence framework project.

LLBLGen Pro - LLBLGen Pro: Using databases in your .NET code made easy. The entity modeling solution for Entity Framework, LLBLGen Pro Runtime Framework, NHibernate and Linq to SQL.

MyBATIS - MyBatis is a top-rated SQL-based data mapping solution used by Programmers, Software Engineers, and Database Architects for developing object-oriented software applications.

Doctrine ORM - PHP object relational mapper (ORM) that sits on top of a powerful database abstraction layer (DBAL).