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JPA vs. Hibernate — Key Differences Explained with Examples
Learn the difference between JPA and Hibernate in Java. Understand their roles, purpose, and usage with side-by-side comparison and examples.
2 min readMar 26, 2025
📘 Introduction
If you’re learning Java and working with databases, you’ll often come across JPA and Hibernate. Many developers confuse these two or think they are the same thing. While they are related, they are not the same.
This guide will help you understand:
- What is JPA?
- What is Hibernate?
- How they are connected
- Key differences with examples
🔸 What is JPA?
JPA (Java Persistence API) is a specification provided by Java (under jakarta.persistence) for object-relational mapping (ORM).
It defines:
- Standard interfaces and annotations for mapping Java objects to relational database tables.
- How to perform common database operations (CRUD).
- It doesn’t provide the actual implementation — it just defines the contract.
✅ Example (JPA Entity):
import jakarta.persistence.*;
@Entity
@Table(name = "products")
public class Product {
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)…
