Hibernate Framework

 

✅ 1. What is the Advantage of Hibernate over JDBC?

Hibernate offers several powerful advantages over traditional JDBC:

#	Hibernate	JDBC
1️⃣	Database Independence	Hibernate abstracts DB-specific queries. Works across MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc.
2️⃣	Object-Oriented Design	Treats tables as Java objects (POJOs).
3️⃣	No Need to Learn SQL	With HQL/Criteria API, most work is done in Java.
4️⃣	Automatic Query Optimization	Hibernate optimizes queries automatically via Criteria API.
5️⃣	Caching Support	Supports 1st and 2nd level cache for performance.
6️⃣	Faster Development	Less boilerplate code, faster CRUD development.
7️⃣	Connection Pooling Support	Supports C3P0, HikariCP, etc.
8️⃣	Mapping & Relations in XML/Annotations	Easier to visualize and maintain object relationships.
9️⃣	Lazy Loading Support	Load data on demand (lazy=false for eager).
🔟	Versioning and Optimistic Locking	Built-in version control of DB rows.

✅ 2. What is Hibernate?

Hibernate is:

• A lightweight ORM (Object Relational Mapping) framework for Java.

• Used to map Java classes (POJOs) to database tables.

• Aims to simplify database operations like saving, retrieving, updating, and deleting objects.

• Abstracts JDBC complexities like connection management, SQL statements, and transactions.

---

✅ 3. What is ORM?

ORM (Object Relational Mapping) is a technique that:

• Connects Java classes to database tables.

• Maps Java fields to table columns.

• Handles conversion between Java types and SQL types.

Think of ORM as a bridge between Java objects and relational data.

---

✅ 4. What Does ORM Consist Of?

An ORM framework like Hibernate typically includes:

• API for CRUD operations (save(), update(), delete(), etc.)

• Query Language like HQL (Hibernate Query Language)

• Metadata Mapping via XML or Annotations (@Entity, @Table, @Column)

• Optimization features like:

  • Lazy loading

  • Dirty checking

  • Cascading

  • Batch fetching

---

✅ 5. What are the ORM Levels?

Level	Description
1️⃣ Pure Relational	SQL and stored procedures only
2️⃣ Light Object Mapping	JDBC with basic mapping to POJOs
3️⃣ Medium Object Mapping	Some OOP concepts like inheritance
4️⃣ Full Object Mapping	Full OOP support with relationships, inheritance, lazy loading, etc. — Hibernate lies here

✅ 6. Why Use ORM Tools like Hibernate?

Benefit	Explanation
🔁 DB Independence	Write code once, use with any supported DB.
💡 Productivity	Less boilerplate code, use HQL instead of SQL.
🚀 Performance	Built-in caching, lazy/eager loading.
🔄 Maintainability	Less coupling, easier to refactor.
🌍 Portability	SQL is DB-specific, Hibernate handles the translation.

✅ 7. What Does Hibernate Simplify?

Hibernate removes much of the complexity in persistence code:

• Saving and loading Java objects.

• Mapping DB columns and tables to Java code.

• Managing transactions and connections.

• Executing joins and queries via object navigation.

• Generating DB schema from object model.

---

✅ 8. Difference Between Hibernate and Entity Beans (EJB)

Feature	Hibernate	Entity Beans (EJB)
DB Support	Multiple DBs via config	Limited DB support
Container	No special container needed	Requires EJB container
OOP Support	Full support (inheritance, polymorphism)	Limited
Caching	Built-in multilevel cache	Not supported
Connection Pooling	Uses C3P0, Hikari, etc.	Manual setup
Portability	Lightweight & portable	Heavy, tied to container

✅ 9. Core Interfaces and Classes in Hibernate

Interface/Class	Purpose
Configuration	Loads config file & mapping (hibernate.cfg.xml)
SessionFactory	Singleton factory for sessions, created once per app
Session	Main interface to interact with DB, represents unit of work
Transaction	Used to begin, commit, or rollback transactions
Query / Criteria	For fetching data via HQL, native SQL, or Criteria API

✅ 10. Hibernate Execution Flow

1. Load Configuration

   Configuration cfg = new Configuration().configure("hibernate.cfg.xml");

2. Build SessionFactory

   SessionFactory sessionFactory = cfg.buildSessionFactory();

3. Open Session

   Session session = sessionFactory.openSession();

4. Begin Transaction

   Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction();

5. Perform Operation

   session.save(entity);

6. Commit and Close

   tx.commit();
   session.close();

11. What is the need for Hibernate Mapping File?

The Hibernate mapping file (*.hbm.xml) is used to map Java class fields to database table columns. It tells Hibernate:

• Which class corresponds to which table

• Which class fields map to which table columns

• How the primary key is generated

• The types of relationships (one-to-many, many-to-one, etc.)

• Whether lazy loading is enabled

• Cascade options

Key roles:

• Define table name, column names, data types, length, nullability

• Specify primary key with <id>

• Specify associations like <many-to-one>, <one-to-many>, etc.

• Configure fetch strategy (lazy, eager)

• Define generators (increment, identity, sequence, uuid)

Example:

Employee.hbm.xml
<hibernate-mapping>
  <class name="com.sample.Employee" table="EMPLOYEE">
    <id name="id" column="EMP_ID">
      <generator class="increment"/>
    </id>
    <property name="name" column="EMP_NAME"/>
    <property name="address" column="EMP_ADDRESS"/>
  </class>
</hibernate-mapping>

---

12. What are the important tags of hibernate.cfg.xml?

This configuration file tells Hibernate how to connect to the database and where to find mapping files or annotated classes.

Key tags:

• <hibernate-configuration>: Root element

• <session-factory>: Defines all settings under it

  • <property name="hibernate.connection.driver_class">

  • <property name="hibernate.connection.url">

  • <property name="hibernate.connection.username">

  • <property name="hibernate.connection.password">

  • <property name="hibernate.dialect">

  • <property name="hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto"> – create, update, validate, none

  • <property name="hibernate.show_sql">

  • <mapping resource="Employee.hbm.xml"/> – for XML mappings

  • <mapping class="com.sample.Employee"/> – for annotated classes

Example:

hibernate.cfg.xml
<hibernate-configuration>
  <session-factory>
    <property name="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect</property>
    <property name="hibernate.connection.driver_class">com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver</property>
    <property name="hibernate.connection.url">jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/testdb</property>
    <property name="hibernate.connection.username">root</property>
    <property name="hibernate.connection.password">password</property>
    <property name="hibernate.show_sql">true</property>
    <mapping resource="Employee.hbm.xml"/>
  </session-factory>
</hibernate-configuration>

---

13. What role does the Session interface play in Hibernate?

Session is the main interface to interact with the database using Hibernate. It’s not threadsafe, and represents a single unit of work or conversation.

Key roles:

• Open connection to DB

• Perform CRUD operations

• Create queries

• Manage object states (persistent, detached, transient)

• Start and manage transactions

• Acts as a first-level cache (mandatory)

Example:

java
Session session = sessionFactory.openSession();
Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction();

Employee e = session.get(Employee.class, 1);  // Read
session.save(new Employee("John"));           // Create
session.delete(e);                            // Delete

tx.commit();
session.close();

---

14. What role does the SessionFactory interface play in Hibernate?

SessionFactory is a thread-safe, heavyweight object responsible for:

• Creating Session instances

• Caching mappings, SQL, and metadata

• Acting as a second-level cache provider

• Created once per application (usually singleton)

Characteristics:

• Immutable

• Created using Configuration object

• Expensive to create

Example:

java
SessionFactory factory = new Configuration()
    .configure("hibernate.cfg.xml")
    .buildSessionFactory();

Session session = factory.openSession();

---

15. What are the most common ways to specify the Hibernate configuration properties?

1. XML (hibernate.cfg.xml):

Most traditional and complete.

2. Java Properties file (hibernate.properties):

Simple key-value pair format.

3. Programmatic configuration:

Using Configuration object directly in Java.

java
Configuration cfg = new Configuration();
cfg.setProperty("hibernate.dialect", "org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect");
cfg.setProperty("hibernate.connection.url", "jdbc:mysql://localhost/test");

4. Annotations:

From Hibernate 3.3 onwards, JPA annotations are supported directly in entity classes.

Employee.java
@Entity
@Table(name = "EMPLOYEE")
public class Employee { ... }

---

16. How do you map Java objects with DB tables?

Steps:

1. Create Java Bean (POJO with setters/getters)

2. Create mapping file (*.hbm.xml)

3. Define class-to-table and property-to-column mappings

Example:

Employee.hbm.xml
<hibernate-mapping>
  <class name="com.sample.EmployeeBean" table="EMPLOYEE">
    <id name="eid" column="ID"/>
    <property name="ename" column="NAME" length="255" not-null="true"/>
    <property name="address" column="ADDR" length="255" not-null="true"/>
  </class>
</hibernate-mapping>

---

17. How do you define sequence-generated primary key in Hibernate?

You use the <id> tag and <generator> subtag.

Example using Oracle/Postgres sequence:

xml
<id name="userid" column="USER_ID" type="long">
  <generator class="sequence">
    <param name="sequence">USER_SEQ</param>
  </generator>
</id>

Other generator strategies:

• increment – auto-increment, simple

• identity – DB-specific auto-increment (MySQL)

• sequence – uses DB sequence (Oracle, PostgreSQL)

• uuid – universally unique identifier

---

18. What is component mapping in Hibernate?

A component (also called embedded) is a value-type object stored with the entity in the same table.

Features:

• No separate table

• No primary key needed for component

• Used with @Embeddable and @Embedded in annotations

• Requires a no-arg constructor

• Shared references not supported

XML Example:

xml
<component name="address" class="Address">
  <property name="city"/>
  <property name="state"/>
</component>

Annotation Example:

java
@Embeddable
public class Address {
  private String city;
  private String state;
}

@Entity
public class Employee {
  @Embedded
  private Address address;
}

---

19. Difference between getCurrentSession() and openSession() in Hibernate?

Feature	getCurrentSession()	openSession()
Session management	Managed by Hibernate (bound to transaction)	Manual (you must close it explicitly)
Auto close	Yes	No
Auto flush	Yes	No
Thread safe	Not safe across threads	Not safe across threads
Use case	Best in JTA or Spring transactions	Use when manual control is needed

Example with openSession():

Session session = factory.openSession();
Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction();
// operations
tx.commit();
session.close();  // Manual

Example with getCurrentSession():

Session session = factory.getCurrentSession();
// auto-close handled by framework

---

20. What are the types of Hibernate instance states?

1. Transient

• Not associated with Hibernate session

• No representation in database yet

• Example: Employee e = new Employee();

2. Persistent

• Associated with active session

• Mapped to DB record

• Changes automatically synchronized

• Example: session.save(e);

3. Detached

• Once persistent, but session closed

• Not tracked anymore

• Can be reattached using update(), merge()

21. What are the types of inheritance models in Hibernate?

Hibernate supports three types of inheritance mapping strategies for mapping Java class hierarchies to database tables:

1. Table Per Class Hierarchy (Single Table Strategy)

   • All classes in the hierarchy are mapped to a single table.

   • A discriminator column is used to identify the subclass.

   • Pros: Fast queries, less joins.

   • Cons: Null values for non-shared fields of subclasses.

   java
   
   @Inheritance(strategy = InheritanceType.SINGLE_TABLE)
   @DiscriminatorColumn(name="type", discriminatorType = DiscriminatorType.STRING)
   

2. Table Per Subclass (Joined Strategy)

   • Each class has its own table, but subclass tables contain only subclass fields and reference the superclass table using a foreign key.

   • Pros: Normalized structure, no nulls.

   • Cons: More joins when querying subclass data.

   java
   
   @Inheritance(strategy = InheritanceType.JOINED)
   

3. Table Per Concrete Class (Table Per Class Strategy)

   • Each concrete class has its own table including all inherited properties.

   • No shared table for common fields.

   • Pros: No joins required.

   • Cons: Data duplication across tables.

   java
   
   @Inheritance(strategy = InheritanceType.TABLE_PER_CLASS)
   

---

22. What is Hibernate Query Language (HQL)?

• HQL is an object-oriented query language similar to SQL but operates on Hibernate entity objects, not database tables.

• It is database independent—you don’t write queries using actual table/column names.

• HQL lets you:

  • Fetch objects (from Employee e)

  • Perform joins

  • Use aggregate functions (sum, count)

  • Write subqueries

Example:

java

List<Employee> employees = session.createQuery("FROM Employee WHERE salary > :minSal")
                                  .setParameter("minSal", 50000)
                                  .list();

---

23. What are the ways to express joins in HQL?

HQL supports multiple ways to represent inner and outer joins:

1. Implicit Association Join

   • Automatically joins based on mapped relationships.

   java
   
   from Department d where d.employees.size > 5
   

2. Explicit Join in FROM Clause

   • Manual join with optional join or left join.

   java
   
   from Department d join d.employees e
   

3. Fetch Join

   • Used to initialize associated entities eagerly.

   java
   
   from Department d join fetch d.employees
   

4. Theta-Style Join (in WHERE clause)

   • Traditional SQL-style join using conditions.

   java
   
   from Employee e, Department d where e.deptId = d.id
   

---

24. Transaction with plain JDBC in Hibernate

If not using a Java Transaction API (JTA), Hibernate supports JDBC-based transaction demarcation using its Transaction API.

Steps:

1. Begin transaction with session.beginTransaction().

2. Perform DB operations.

3. Commit or rollback.

4. Always close the session.

Example:

java

Session session = factory.openSession();
Transaction tx = null;
try {
    tx = session.beginTransaction();
    session.load(Employee.class, 1);
    session.persist(new Employee());
    tx.commit();
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    if (tx != null) tx.rollback();
    throw e;
} finally {
    session.close();
}

Configuration:

properties

hibernate.transaction.factory_class = org.hibernate.transaction.JDBCTransactionFactory
hibernate.current_session_context_class = thread

---

25. Best Practices for Defining Hibernate Persistent Classes

1. Default Constructor

   • Required by Hibernate to instantiate objects via reflection.

   java
   
   public Employee() {}
   

2. Getter and Setter Methods

   • Hibernate uses these to read/write fields.

3. equals() and hashCode()

   • Use business keys (like email/SSN), not auto-generated IDs.

   • IDs might be null before saving to DB.

4. Serializable Interface

   • Enables caching, session replication in clusters.

   java
   
   public class Employee implements Serializable {}
   

5. Avoid Final Classes

   • Final classes prevent Hibernate from using proxies for lazy loading.

6. session.update() vs. session.lock()

   • update(): Reattaches and updates the DB.

   • lock(): Reattaches only, no DB update.

   • Use lock() only if you're sure the DB is in sync with the object.

---

26. What are the Collection types in Hibernate?

Hibernate supports several collection mappings for one-to-many or many-to-many relationships:

• Set: No duplicates, unordered.

• List: Ordered, duplicates allowed.

• Array: Fixed size.

• Map: Key-value pairs.

• Bag: Unordered collection allowing duplicates (like List without index column).

---

27. Sorted Collection vs. Ordered Collection

Feature	Sorted Collection	Ordered Collection
Sorting Location	Java (in-memory)	Database
Mechanism	Java Comparator	SQL ORDER BY
Efficiency	Best for small collections	Best for large datasets
Annotation/Config	@SortComparator	@OrderBy

Example:

java

@SortComparator(MyComparator.class)
private SortedSet<Employee> employees;

@OrderBy("name ASC")
private List<Employee> employees;

---

28. What do you mean by Named – SQL Query?

• Named SQL queries are native SQL queries (not HQL) defined once in the XML mapping or annotations, and reused throughout the application.

XML Definition:

xml

<sql-query name="empdetails">
    <return alias="emp" class="com.sample.Employee"/>
    SELECT emp.EMP_ID AS {emp.empid},
           emp.EMP_ADDRESS AS {emp.address},
           emp.EMP_NAME AS {emp.name}
    FROM Employee emp
    WHERE emp.NAME LIKE :name
</sql-query>

Invocation in Java:

java

List<Employee> people = session.getNamedQuery("empdetails")
                               .setString("name", "TomBrady")
                               .setMaxResults(50)
                               .list();

29. How do you invoke Stored Procedures in Hibernate?

Hibernate allows stored procedure calls using named SQL queries with callable="true".

Example Configuration (in mapping XML):

xml

<sql-query name="selectAllEmployees_SP" callable="true">
  <return alias="emp" class="employee">
    <return-property name="empid" column="EMP_ID"/>
    <return-property name="name" column="EMP_NAME"/>
    <return-property name="address" column="EMP_ADDRESS"/>
    { ? = call selectAllEmployees() }
  </return>
</sql-query>

• callable="true": Indicates it's a stored procedure.

• { ? = call selectAllEmployees() }: Syntax for invoking a stored procedure that returns a result set.

• return-property: Maps the result columns to Java fields.

Usage in Java:

java

List<Employee> employees = session.getNamedQuery("selectAllEmployees_SP").list();

✅ 30. Explain Criteria API
The Criteria API is a simplified, object-oriented API for creating queries in Hibernate.
It allows constructing complex queries using Java objects rather than SQL strings.
Useful when you don’t know query structure at compile time (e.g., advanced search filters).
Introduced via org.hibernate.Criteria (deprecated after Hibernate 5 in favor of JPA Criteria API).
Syntax Example:
List employees = session.createCriteria(Employee.class)
    .add(Restrictions.like("name", "a%"))
    .add(Restrictions.eq("address", "Boston"))
    .addOrder(Order.asc("name"))
    .list();
Restrictions: Adds WHERE clause conditions.
Order.asc: Adds ORDER BY clause.
list(): Executes the query and returns results.
31.What’s the difference between load() and get()?

Both load() and get() are used in Hibernate to retrieve an object based on its primary key (ID), but they behave differently in terms of how and when they access the database.

➤ load() Method:



Returns a proxy object initially.


Database is not hit until a method is called on the proxy (lazy loading).


If the object is not found in the database when accessed, it throws ObjectNotFoundException.


Should be used only when you're sure the record exists.


Example:
Employee emp = session.load(Employee.class, 100); // returns proxy
System.out.println(emp.getName()); // DB hit happens here
get() Method:
Immediately hits the database when invoked.
If the entity with the given ID is not found, it returns null.
Useful when you’re not sure if the record exists.
No proxy is involved; actual object is returned.

Example:
java
Employee emp = session.get(Employee.class, 100); // immediately fetches from DB
if(emp == null) {
    System.out.println("Employee not found.");
}
Key Differences Table:



Feature
get()
load()




Return Type
Actual object
Proxy object


Database Hit
Immediately
Only when accessed


Null Handling
Returns null if not found
Throws ObjectNotFoundException


Use Case
When record may not exist
When record definitely exists


Performance (initial load)
Slower (eager)
Faster (lazy, proxy-based)


32.What is the difference between and merge and update ?
These methods are used to reattach a detached object (an object that was once in a Hibernate session but the session is now closed).
➤ update():



Reattaches a detached object to a session.


Fails with NonUniqueObjectException if the session already contains an object with the same identifier.


Doesn't return anything.


Use it only if you are sure the session doesn't already contain that entity.


Example:
java
session.update(employee);

➤ merge():



Merges the state of a detached object with a persistent instance in the session.


Does not fail even if an object with the same ID already exists in the session.


Returns a managed (persistent) instance.


Safest method to reattach a detached object.


Example:
java
Employee updatedEmp = (Employee) session.merge(employee);

Key Differences:

Feature
update()
merge()
Behavior
 Reattaches a detached object
Copies detached state into new one
Exception Risk
 May throw NonUniqueObjectException
Safe
Return Type
 void
Returns managed instance
Use Case 
 Only if you're sure it's detached
Preferred for safety

33.Define cascade and inverse option in one-to-many mapping?
➤ cascade:



Tells Hibernate what operations should propagate from parent to child entities.


For example, if you save/delete a parent, should Hibernate also save/delete its children?


Used in both XML and annotation-based configurations.


Options:


all


save-update


persist


merge


delete


delete-orphan


all-delete-orphan


Example (XML):
xml
<set name="children" cascade="all" />

➤ inverse:



Used in bidirectional relationships to define the owner of the relationship.


inverse="true" indicates that the child side maintains the foreign key.


Prevents Hibernate from issuing unnecessary updates from both sides.


Example:
xml
<set name="children" inverse="true" />

Why It Matters:

Without inverse, both parent and child may try to maintain the foreign key, causing redundant or conflicting updates.
34.Define HibernateTemplate?
HibernateTemplate is a helper class provided by Spring (org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.HibernateTemplate) to simplify data access using Hibernate.


Wraps Hibernate’s SessionFactory.


Provides template methods for common operations.


Handles resource management (like session opening/closing) automatically.

35.What are the benefits does HibernateTemplate provide?
The benefits of HibernateTemplate are :
 HibernateTemplate, a Spring Template class simplifies interactions with Hibernate Session.
 Common functions are simplified to single method calls.
 Sessions are automatically closed.
 Exceptions are automatically caught and converted to runtime exceptions.
HibernateTemplate is a helper class provided by the Spring Framework (part of org.springframework.orm.hibernate5) that simplifies data access code using Hibernate. It follows the Template Method design pattern and handles repetitive boilerplate code such as opening/closing sessions, handling transactions, and translating exceptions.
It is typically used in Spring + Hibernate integration to simplify DAO (Data Access Object) operations.

🔷 Core Benefits of HibernateTemplate with Detailed Explanation and Examples


✅ 1. Simplifies Interactions with Hibernate Session

Hibernate operations like save, update, delete, and get require boilerplate code using Session, Transaction, and proper try-catch-finally blocks. HibernateTemplate encapsulates all that internally.

🔸 Example Without HibernateTemplate:
public void saveEmployee(Employee emp) {
    Session session = sessionFactory.openSession();
    Transaction tx = null;
    try {
        tx = session.beginTransaction();
        session.save(emp);
        tx.commit();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        if (tx != null) tx.rollback();
        e.printStackTrace();
    } finally {
        session.close();
    }
}

🔸 Example With HibernateTemplate:
@Autowired
private HibernateTemplate hibernateTemplate;

public void saveEmployee(Employee emp) {
    hibernateTemplate.save(emp);
}

🔹 Benefit: Just one line replaces multiple lines of session, transaction, and exception-handling code.

✅ 2. Common Functions Are Simplified to Single Method Calls

HibernateTemplate provides convenient one-liner methods for common database operations.
Operation
HibernateTemplate Method
Save
save(Object entity)
Update
update(Object entity)
Delete
delete(Object entity)
Retrieve
get(Class, Serializable)
List All
loadAll(Class)
🔸 Example: Load all Employees
java

List<Employee> employees = hibernateTemplate.loadAll(Employee.class);


✅ 3. Automatic Session Management

You don’t need to manually manage Session objects. It internally opens, flushes, and closes the session, so you avoid common mistakes like session leaks or forgetting to close.

✅ 4. Automatic Exception Translation

Hibernate throws checked exceptions like HibernateException. HibernateTemplate converts these into Spring’s runtime DataAccessException, which is part of a unified exception hierarchy in Spring.
This means:


No need to catch or declare checked exceptions.


Exception handling becomes easier and consistent across the DAO layer.



🔸 Example:
try {
    hibernateTemplate.save(emp);
} catch (DataAccessException ex) {
    // Handle exception without worrying about checked HibernateException
}


✅ 5. Integration with Spring Transactions

HibernateTemplate works well with Spring’s @Transactional annotation. You can define transaction boundaries declaratively at the service layer.

🔸 Example:
@Transactional
public void updateEmployee(Employee emp) {
    hibernateTemplate.update(emp);
}

This ensures:


Automatic rollback on exceptions.


Commit if no exception is thrown.



✅ 6. Support for Callback Programming (HibernateCallback)

For complex queries or operations, you can pass a custom implementation of HibernateCallback to execute() method, gaining full access to Session object.

🔸 Example:
java
List<Employee> result = hibernateTemplate.execute(session -> 
    session.createQuery("from Employee where salary > 50000", Employee.class).list()
);

🔹 Benefit: You still get session and exception management while using advanced features.

✅ 7. Clean and Readable DAO Code

By abstracting away boilerplate, HibernateTemplate allows you to write clean, concise, and maintainable DAO classes.

✅ Summary Table: Benefits of HibernateTemplate

Benefit
Explanation
Simplified Hibernate interaction
One-liner for common operations like save, get, update
Automatic session management
No need to manually open/close sessions
Auto exception translation
Converts Hibernate exceptions to Spring's DataAccessException
Integrated with Spring AOP
Works with @Transactional
Callback support
Allows advanced queries with HibernateCallback
Encourages best practices
Cleaner, safer, and reusable code patterns
⚠️ Note on Modern Usage



HibernateTemplate was widely used with Hibernate 3 and 4.


In modern Spring Boot applications, it's largely replaced by Spring Data JPA (JpaRepository), which offers even more abstraction.


However, HibernateTemplate is still relevant in legacy systems and for understanding underlying data access design patterns.


36. How do you switch between relational databases without code changes?
Hibernate abstracts database access via dialects, allowing you to switch databases without changing code.
Configuration:
xml
<property name="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect</property>

Examples of Dialects:


MySQLDialect


OracleDialect


SQLServerDialect


PostgreSQLDialect


Hibernate generates database-specific SQL internally based on the dialect.

37.If you want to see the Hibernate generated SQL statements on console, what should we do?
To print Hibernate SQL queries on console:
In XML file:
we need to below tag like 
<property name="hibernate.show_sql">true</property>

In application.properties file:
spring.jpa.show-sql=true
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=true

This helps in debugging and understanding what Hibernate is doing under the hood.
38.What are derived properties?
Derived properties are not directly mapped to database columns. Instead, they are calculated based on expressions or SQL formulas at runtime.
Defined using formula attribute:
xml
<property name="totalSalary" formula="salary + bonus"/>

Usage:


Good for computed fields (e.g., full name, total cost, calculated age).


Note: These are read-only properties.

39 . Explain about transaction file?
Hibernate transactions manage the atomicity and consistency of database operations.
Key Points:



Started using session.beginTransaction().


Supports different transaction types: JDBC, JTA, CORBA.


Multiple operations (save, update, delete) can be performed inside a transaction.


Example:
java
Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction();
session.save(employee);
session.update(address);
tx.commit();

40 . Difference between session.save() , session.saveOrUpdate() and session.persist()?



Method
Return Type
Behavior




save()
Serializable
Inserts object. Fails if it is duplicate primary key.


saveOrUpdate()
void
Inserts or updates based on identifier.


persist()
void
Similar to save(), but follows JPA. Doesn’t return ID.

Key Differences:


save() returns ID.


persist() is strict — throws exceptions if entity is already persistent.


saveOrUpdate() is flexible.

41 . Explain about the id field?
The <id> element defines the primary key of the entity.
You can define:


Field name


Column mapping


Generation strategy (manual or automatic)


Example:
xml
<id name="id" column="EMP_ID">
    <generator class="increment"/>
</id>

Or annotation-based:
java
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
private int id;
42.What is the use of dynamic-insert and dynamic-update attributes in a class mapping?
 dynamic-update (defaults to false): Specifies that UPDATE SQL should be generated at runtime and contain only those columns whose values have changed
 dynamic-insert (defaults to false): Specifies that INSERT SQL should be generated at runtime and contain only the columns whose values are not null.
Used to optimize SQL generation.
Example:
xml
<class name="Product" dynamic-insert="true" dynamic-update="true">
Behavior:
dynamic-insert="true": INSERT only includes non-null fields.
dynamic-update="true": UPDATE only includes changed fields.

43.What is automatic dirty checking?
Hibernate automatically tracks object changes inside a session.


If a field is modified, Hibernate marks the object as "dirty".


During flush() or commit(), it updates only dirty fields in the DB.


No need for explicit update() call.

44.What are Callback interfaces?
Callback interfaces allow the application to receive a notification when something interesting happens to an object—for example, when an object is loaded, saved, or deleted. Hibernate applications don't need to implement these callbacks, but they're useful for implementing certain kinds of generic functionality.

These interfaces or annotations allow you to hook into Hibernate’s lifecycle events.

Examples:


Lifecycle, Validatable


Annotations: @PostPersist, @PreRemove, @PostLoad, etc.


Use Cases:


Audit logging


Validation


Default value setting

45.What is Hibernate proxy?
 Hibernate uses proxies to implement lazy loading.



When you use session.load(), it returns a proxy object.


Actual DB hit happens when a method is called on that proxy.


Internally uses CGLIB or Javassist to generate the proxy class.


Benefit: Improves performance by deferring data load

46.How can Hibernate be configured to access an instance variable directly and not through a setter method ?
To skip setter/getter and access field directly:
xml
<property name="name" access="field" />

Used in scenarios like legacy code or frameworks that require direct field manipulation.
47. What does "immutable" mean in Hibernate
 (or) How can a whole class be mapped as immutable in Hiberante?
🔷 What does "immutable" mean in Hibernate?

An immutable class in Hibernate is a class whose instances cannot be updated or deleted after being persisted into the database. Any change to an immutable entity will be ignored by Hibernate during flush or commit operations.
This is useful when dealing with reference or master data—data that never changes (like country codes, currency types, or predefined user roles).
Use mutable="false" in class mapping:
🔷 How to mark a class as immutable?
We can make a class immutable in Hibernate mapping (XML) using:
Using 1)xml

<class name="Country" table="COUNTRIES" mutable="false">
    <id name="code" column="CODE" />
    <property name="name" column="NAME" />
</class>

public class Country {
    private String code;
    private String name;

    // no-arg constructor required by Hibernate
    public Country() {}

    // getters and setters
}

Country c = session.get(Country.class, "IN");
c.setName("India Updated"); // Hibernate will ignore this change during flush!
The attribute mutable="false" tells Hibernate not to track changes to this entity.
Any changes made to its fields will be ignored when flushing the session.
2)🔷 Use @Immutable Annotation
Hibernate provides @Immutable (from org.hibernate.annotations) to mark an entity as read-only — meaning:
Hibernate will never update or delete the object.
All change tracking (dirty checking) is disabled.
This is useful for read-only reference data like Country, Currency, etc.
🔷 Example: Marking a Class as Immutable
import javax.persistence.*;
import org.hibernate.annotations.Immutable;

@Entity
@Immutable
@Table(name = "countries")
public class Country {

    @Id
    private String code;

    private String name;

    // Required no-arg constructor
    public Country() {}

    // Getters
    public String getCode() {
        return code;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    // Setters are optional (can omit if read-only)
}
🔷 Behavior of @Immutable:
Hibernate will allow you to read the entity using session.get() or find().
But any changes to the fields will be ignored on flush() or commit().
If you call update() or delete() explicitly, Hibernate won’t perform SQL update/delete.
This helps protect data integrity of read-only tables.
🔷 Use Case Scenarios
Scenario
Why use @Immutable?
Lookup tables
Prevent accidental update to countries, roles
Master/reference data     
Where records are inserted once and never modified
Performance optimization
 Skips dirty-checking overhead
48 . Transparent Persistence in POJOs
 Dirty checking feature of the Hibernate allows users or developers to avoid time consuming data base write actions. This feature makes necessary updations and changes to the fields which require a change, remaining fields are left unchanged or untouched.
Hibernate allows POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) to be persisted without any base class or interface.
POJO Requirements:



No-arg constructor


Getter/setters


equals() and hashCode() implemented


Serializable (optional but recommended)


49 . What is the effect when a transient mapped object is passed onto a Sessions save?
If you pass a transient object (not yet associated with Hibernate session) to session.save():



It becomes persistent.


Hibernate assigns a primary key and schedules an INSERT operation.


Will remain in memory and tracked until explicitly removed or session is closed.

50 . Explain about addClass function?
Used in Hibernate configuration to map entities programmatically.
Example:
Configuration cfg = new Configuration();
cfg.addClass(Employee.class);



Internally, it looks for Employee.hbm.xml.


You can also use addResource("Employee.hbm.xml").