Comparison of OpenJPA with Derby embedded vs EclipseLink with Derby server

Each of the following tables focuses on a specific database operation, where the last table presents average results comparison.

Speed comparison of JPA database persistence operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	4.8	3.8	2.9	3.1	3.9	3.4
Element Collection Test	2.8	2.2	1.9	1.5	2.4	1.8
Inheritance Test	4.1	3.9	2.4	2.9	3.3	3.4
Indexing Test	6.1	5.2	4.1	4.3	5.1	4.7
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.5	1.9	1.4	1.7	1.4	1.8
Multithreading Test	8.7	6.1	3.3	3.9	6.0	5.0
All Tests	4.7	3.8	2.7	2.9	3.7	3.4

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slightly more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database.

Speed comparison of JPA database retrieval operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	14.8	6.4	22.6	11.3	18.7	8.8
Element Collection Test	0.0031	1.8	2.3	2.4	1.2	2.1
Inheritance Test	0.015	3.7	7.0	12.9	3.5	8.3
Indexing Test	11.7	3.6	26.5	12.8	19.1	8.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.93	0.61	1.2	0.73	1.1	0.67
Multithreading Test	25.2	8.5	28.6	19.8	26.9	14.1
All Tests	8.8	4.1	14.7	10.0	11.7	7.0

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with Derby embedded is more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using database indexes with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (3.6) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (11.7) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 3.2 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (0.0031) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (1.8) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 581 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby server.

Speed comparison of JPA database query operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	49.7	45.8	9.9	5.3	29.8	25.6
Element Collection Test	2.7	35.2	9.6	0.99	6.1	18.1
Inheritance Test	2.3	23.1	1.3	5.9	1.8	14.5
Indexing Test	7.0	2.5	17.1	12.2	12.1	7.4
Multithreading Test	40.9	34.3	11.7	7.7	26.3	21.0
All Tests	20.5	28.2	9.9	6.4	15.2	17.3

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with Derby server is slightly more efficient than OpenJPA with Derby embedded in executing the tested JPA queries.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (2.7) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (35.2) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby server is 13.0 times faster than OpenJPA with Derby embedded.

On the other hand, EclipseLink with Derby server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (0.99) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (9.6) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with Derby server is 9.7 times slower than OpenJPA with Derby embedded.

Speed comparison of JPA database update operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	5.6	3.9	5.2	4.4	5.4	4.1
Element Collection Test	0.0090	1.7	2.2	1.6	1.1	1.6
Inheritance Test	0.045	4.6	4.6	6.1	2.3	5.3
Indexing Test	6.1	4.5	8.7	7.6	7.4	6.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.6	0.70	0.91	0.42	1.3	0.56
Multithreading Test	18.3	7.3	4.5	4.8	11.4	6.0
All Tests	5.3	3.8	4.4	4.2	4.8	4.0

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slightly more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby server in updating JPA entity objects in the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (7.3) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (18.3) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 2.5 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (0.0090) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (1.7) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 189 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby server.

Speed comparison of JPA database removal operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	4.2	2.8	4.5	3.9	4.3	3.3
Element Collection Test	0.0071	1.2	1.6	0.55	0.80	0.87
Inheritance Test	0.035	3.3	3.0	3.7	1.5	3.5
Indexing Test	5.3	4.9	3.6	3.5	4.4	4.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.80	0.51	0.93	0.50	0.86	0.51
Multithreading Test	5.7	4.8	6.2	5.7	6.0	5.3
All Tests	2.7	2.9	3.3	3.0	3.0	3.0

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with Derby embedded is equivalent to EclipseLink with Derby server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (0.55) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (1.6) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 2.9 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (0.0071) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (1.2) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 169 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby server.

Comparison of JPA/Database speed - the averages (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server	OpenJPA Derby embedded	EclipseLink Derby server
Basic Person Test	15.8	12.5	9.0	5.6	12.4	9.1
Element Collection Test	1.1	8.4	3.5	1.4	2.3	4.9
Inheritance Test	1.3	7.7	3.7	6.3	2.5	7.0
Indexing Test	7.2	4.1	12.0	8.1	9.6	6.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.2	0.93	1.1	0.83	1.2	0.88
Multithreading Test	19.8	12.2	10.9	8.4	15.3	10.3
All Tests	8.0	7.9	6.9	5.2	7.4	6.6

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slightly more efficient than EclipseLink with Derby server in performing JPA database operations.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (1.4) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (3.5) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 2.5 times faster than EclipseLink with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with Derby embedded database (1.1) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with Derby database server (8.4) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with Derby embedded is 7.6 times slower than EclipseLink with Derby server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)