Understanding the Difference Between Save, Persist, and SaveOrUpdate in Hibernate

When working with Hibernate, it is essential to know the distinctions between the save, persist, and saveOrUpdate methods. These methods are commonly used for managing entity persistence in Hibernate. Let's delve into each one:

Save Method:

The save method is commonly used to persist a new entity into the database. It returns the generated identifier of the entity. If the entity with the same identifier already exists in the database, an exception will be thrown.

Persist Method:

The persist method is similar to the save method in that it also persists a new entity into the database. However, the persist method does not return the identifier immediately; instead, it sets the identifier value in the entity object. If an entity with the same identifier already exists in the database, an exception will not be thrown.

SaveOrUpdate Method:

The saveOrUpdate method is used to either save a new entity or update an existing entity based on the given identifier. If an entity with the same identifier already exists in the database, it will be updated; otherwise, a new entity will be saved.

Understanding the nuances of save, persist, and saveOrUpdate methods in Hibernate is crucial for effective entity management and database operations.