Top 5 Courses to Learn Hibernate and JPA in 2020 - Best of Lot

Hibernate is one of the essential frameworks for Java and Java EE or JEE programmers, especially if you are working on the server-side of a Java Web development project. It's an ORM tool or a framework that allows you to deal with only objects while Hibernate takes care of your data on your behalf. For example, instead of writing classes with SQL to load, save, and update data using the DAO design pattern, you can simply use the Hibernate framework in your project. It will allow you to deal with just objects while it will load, save, and update data in the background. It's also one of the top Java frameworks in my list of top 10 Java frameworks Programmers can learn.

Instead of you loading and saving data to/from the database and then populating objects, Hibernate just gives you a readymade purpose and also takes care of updating data when the state of object changes into the database.

Btw, this is just one benefit of using Hibernate, another important one is that it provides inbuilt caching. Hibernate maintains a couple of caches like the first level, second-level, and query cache, which can hold frequently used data to improve the performance of your Java application.

You don't need to worry about data getting scale or cache growing bigger and bigger, Hibernate can manage both Cache eviction and how to keep it up-to-date. If you only use Hibernate to touch your data, then it will always be up-to-date.

The use of Hibernate also makes your application more portable, for example, if tomorrow, your company decides to switch to Oracle from Microsoft SQL Server, or MySQL to PostgreSQL, you don't need to re-write any SQL query.

All you need to do is change the SQL dialect in the Hibernate configuration file, and you are done. Had you have opted for writing Data Access Object and SQL, you would have to re-write most of your SQL to port your application from one database to another.

I had this experience in the past when we moved from Oracle to SQL Server and had to spend considerable time re-writing stuff that I didn't want. Btw, if you have to make the same move, see here to learn about how I ported some of the SQL queries from Oracle to SQL server.

On a similar note, you don't need to tightly couple your code to Hibernate, you can use JPA (Java Persistence API), a standard API for persistence layer of Java application. Hibernate is just one implementation of JPA, and if your company switches to another implementation like TopLink, then you can easily switch to that if you use JPA APIs.

5 Online Courses to Learn Hibernate and JPA for Java Developers

I have been sharing some useful resources for Java developers, and this is the second article in the series of learning essential frameworks for Java developers.

In the past, I have shared online courses to learn Spring framework, and today, I'll share some of the useful Hibernate and JPA courses for Java developers. You can take these training courses from the comfort of your home and office to learn these essential technologies at your own pace.

Given the importance of Hibernate and JPA, it's useful for Java developers to learn these APIs and frameworks. It will not only make your Resume more attractive but also makes you eligible for several jobs that look for Java developers with Spring and Hibernate experience.

1.Java Persistence: Hibernate and JPA Fundamentals

If you are a Java programmer who wants to learn the Hibernate and JPA fundamentals and some of the advanced topics of Java Persistence with Hibernate, then this is the right course for you.

In this course, you will learn Hibernate 4.3.5. Final (and applicable updates for Hibernate 5.0), and learn how to use Hibernate as a JPA provider.

You'll also be learning the fundamentals and some of the advanced JPA features for object/relational mapping, querying, caching performance, and concurrency.

2.Hibernate and Java Persistence API (JPA) Fundamentals

This one is another great course to learn the basics of Hibernate and JPA. This online training course will teach you the object-relational mapping and Hibernate basics.

You will learn about fundamentals like get vs. load or when to use save vs. persist or saveOrUpdate method in Hibernate. After that, you will learn about necessary mapping annotations, mapping composite and collection types, and entity associations. This video tutorial also covers Hibernate API, JPA API, advanced mapping and configurations, and criteria API.

The course will also cover the Hibernate query language and Java Persistence query language, which allows you to specify SQL in a database vendor-independent way.

3.Master Hibernate and JPA with Spring Boot in 100 Steps

This is one of the hands-on course to learn the fundamentals of Java Persistence API (JPA) and Hibernate framework using Spring and Spring Boot. You will learn the basics of JPA and Hibernate - Entities, Relationships, Inheritance Mappings, and Annotations.

It also covers JPA and Hibernates Relationships in-depth - One to One, Many to One, and Many to Many and different approaches to querying data using JPA and Hibernate - JPQL, Criteria API, and Native Queries.

You will also learn about Caching, and the basis of performance tuning your JPA application with Hibernate - Solve N+1 Queries Issues.

4.Hibernate Fundamentals: Hands-On Primer With Java EE and JPA

This is another excellent online Hibernate training course that provides a complete introduction to the Hibernate and concept of Object Relational Mapping (ORM).

You will also learn how to use Hibernate to write Java applications that connect to a relational database.

The course also explains about essential JPA annotations that let you map classes to relational models. In short, you will learn how to install, configure, and build Java programs within the Hibernate environment.

5. Java Persistence API 2.2 by Antonio  Goncalves

Sometimes for beginners, learning Java Persistence API can be difficult because it's an extensive framework, and there are many important concepts to understand to use it effectively in a real-world project.

This Pluralsight JPA course is designed to make the getting started with Java Persistence API (JPA)  as easy as possible and focus on the most important things you need to know first.  In this course, you will learn the principle of object-relational mapping (ORM) and use Java Persistence API (JPA) to map your Java objects into relational databases.

The course starts with the basic introduction of JPA 2.2 and how it works and then goes on to explain how to manage elementary entities with Hibernate. After that you will learn about CRUD operations using JPA, mapping simple objects or entries into database columns, querying objects, and more advanced features like Entity lifecycles, Callbacks, and Listeners.

It not only covers basic one-to-one mappings but also includes some of the complex mapping situations like mapping collections and different relational mappings like one-to-many and many-to-one.  In the end, you will learn about more advanced features and how to work with JPA 2.2 within Java EE, which is essential for experienced Java developers.

That's all about some of the best courses to learn Hibernate and JPA online. Java and JEE developers can take these courses to master these two persistence technologies for Java application. Having Hibernate and JPA in your resume will make you eligible for many Java Web Developer roles where the company looks for Spring and Hibernate experience.

Btw, if you already know Hibernate and JPA and looking for an advanced course to take your knowledge of Hibernate and JPA to the next level then I suggest to check out High-Performance Java Persistence and Hibernate by Vlad Mihalcea, a Java Champion and one of the top Hibernate ORM project committers to understand the inner working of database and frameworks to improve performance of enterprise application.

By the way, If you haven't learned the Spring framework yet, you may want to check out my list of courses to learn Spring after Hibernate.

Other useful resources for Java developers

5 Free Spring  Framework Courses for Java Developers

5 Online Courses to learn Core Java for Free

5 Courses to Learn Spring Cloud and Microservices in 2020

10 Free Courses to Learn Data Structure and Algorithms in Depth

5 Online training courses to learn Angular for Free

5 Courses to Learn Spring Boot in Depth

5 Node JS courses for Java and Web Developers

5 Courses to Learn Big Data and Apache Spark

2 Best books to learn Hibernate for Java developers

5 Free Courses to learn Spring Security for Java developers

6 Courses to Learn Spring Framework in Depth

10 DevOps Courses for Experienced Java Developers

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like Hibernate and found these courses useful, then please share on Facebook and social network with your friends and colleagues.  If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P.S. - If you are new into Java and Spring Programming world and looking to get started with Spring first before going deep into Hibernate then you can also check out this free course on Udemy - Introduction to Spring Boot 2 and Spring Framework 5 . It's a great course to start with essential frameworks like spring Boot 2 and its also completely free.