Hibernate - get(), load() and byId() Method Examples

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In this article, we will show you how to use Session.get(), Session.load() and Session.byId()  methods to retrieve an entity from database.

In Hibernate, an entity can be obtained from a database using the following Session methods:
Session.get() → This method returns a persistence object of the given class with the given identifier. It will return null if there is no persistence object.

 Session.load() → This method returns a persistence object of the given class with the given identifier. It will throw an exception ObjectNotFoundException if an entity does not exist in the database. The load() method may return a proxy object instead of a real persistence object.

 Session.byId() → This method is used to obtain a persistence object by it a primary identifier.
Before snippets of Session.get(), Session.load() and Session.byId() methods:
package net.javaguides.hibernate.dao;

import org.hibernate.Session;
import org.hibernate.Transaction;

import net.javaguides.hibernate.entity.Student;
import net.javaguides.hibernate.util.HibernateUtil;

public class StudentDao {
    public void getStudent(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // get Student entity using get() method
            Student student = session.get(Student.class, id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void loadStudent(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // get Student entity using load() method
            Student student = session.load(Student.class, id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void getStudentById(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // Obtain an entity using byId() method
            Student student = session.byId(Student.class).getReference(id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void saveStudent(Student student) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();
            // save the student object
            session.persist(student);
            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
Let's start developing step by step Hibernate application using Maven as a project management and build tool. 
In this article, we will JPA annotations for mapping between the Student Java class and the database table.

Technologies and tools used

  • Hibernate 6.1.7.Final
  • IDE - Eclipse
  • Maven 3.5.3
  • Java 17
  • MySQL - 8.0.32

Development Steps

  1. Create a Simple Maven Project
  2. Project Directory Structure
  3. Add jar Dependencies to pom.xml
  4. Creating the JPA Entity Class(Persistent class)
  5. Create a Hibernate configuration file - Java Configuration
  6. Create StudentDao Class
  7. Create the Main class and Run an Application

1. Create a Simple Maven Project

Use the How to Create a Simple Maven Project in Eclipse article to create a simple Maven project in Eclipse IDE.

2. Project Directory Structure

The project directory structure for your reference -

3. Add jar Dependencies to pom.xml

<project
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>net.javaguides.hibernate</groupId>
        <artifactId>hibernate-tutorial</artifactId>
        <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <artifactId>hibernate-get-entity-example</artifactId>
    <properties>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/mysql/mysql-connector-java -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>mysql</groupId>
            <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
            <version>8.0.32</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.hibernate/hibernate-core -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
            <version>6.1.7.Final</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/java</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.5.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>17</source>
                    <target>17</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

4. Creating the JPA Entity Class(Persistent class)

Let's create a Student persistent class that is mapped to a database table.


A simple Persistent class should follow some rules:
  • A no-arg constructor: It is recommended that you have a default constructor with at least package visibility so that hibernate can create the instance of the Persistent class by the newInstance() method.
  • Provide an identifier property: It is better to assign an attribute as an id. This attribute behaves as a primary key in a database.
  • Declare getter and setter methods: The Hibernate recognizes the method by getter and setter method names by default.
  • Prefer non-final class: Hibernate uses the concept of proxies, which depends on the persistent class. The application programmer will not be able to use proxies for lazy association fetching.
Create a Student entity class under net.javaguides.hibernate.entity package as follows.
package net.javaguides.hibernate.entity;

import jakarta.persistence.*;

@Entity
@Table(name = "student")
public class Student {

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
    @Column(name = "id")
    private int id;

    @Column(name = "first_name")
    private String firstName;

    @Column(name = "last_name")
    private String lastName;

    @Column(name = "email")
    private String email;

    public Student() {

    }

    public Student(String firstName, String lastName, String email) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
        this.email = email;
    }

    public int getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public void setId(int id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }

    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }

    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }

    public String getEmail() {
        return email;
    }

    public void setEmail(String email) {
        this.email = email;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Student [id=" + id + ", firstName=" + firstName + ", lastName=" + lastName + ", email=" + email + "]";
    }
}

5. Create a Hibernate configuration file - Java Configuration

The HibernateUtil Java configuration file contains information about the database and mapping file:
package net.javaguides.hibernate.util;

import java.util.Properties;

import org.hibernate.SessionFactory;
import org.hibernate.boot.registry.StandardServiceRegistryBuilder;
import org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration;
import org.hibernate.cfg.Environment;
import org.hibernate.service.ServiceRegistry;

import net.javaguides.hibernate.entity.Student;

public class HibernateUtil {
    private static SessionFactory sessionFactory;
    public static SessionFactory getSessionFactory() {
        if (sessionFactory == null) {
            try {
                Configuration configuration = new Configuration();

                // Hibernate settings equivalent to hibernate.cfg.xml's properties
                Properties settings = new Properties();
                settings.put(Environment.DRIVER, "com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver");
                settings.put(Environment.URL, "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/hibernate_db?useSSL=false");
                settings.put(Environment.USER, "root");
                settings.put(Environment.PASS, "root");
                settings.put(Environment.DIALECT, "org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5Dialect");

                settings.put(Environment.SHOW_SQL, "true");

                settings.put(Environment.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS, "thread");

                settings.put(Environment.HBM2DDL_AUTO, "create-drop");

                configuration.setProperties(settings);

                configuration.addAnnotatedClass(Student.class);

                ServiceRegistry serviceRegistry = new StandardServiceRegistryBuilder()
                    .applySettings(configuration.getProperties()).build();

                sessionFactory = configuration.buildSessionFactory(serviceRegistry);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
        return sessionFactory;
    }
}

6. Create StudentDao Class

Let's create a separate StudentDao class to separate out the database and the Hibernate related stuff.
package net.javaguides.hibernate.dao;

import org.hibernate.Session;
import org.hibernate.Transaction;

import net.javaguides.hibernate.entity.Student;
import net.javaguides.hibernate.util.HibernateUtil;

public class StudentDao {
    public void getStudent(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // get Student entity using get() method
            Student student = session.get(Student.class, id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void loadStudent(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // get Student entity using load() method
            Student student = session.load(Student.class, id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void getStudentById(int id) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();

            // Obtain an entity using byId() method
            Student student = session.byId(Student.class).getReference(id);
            System.out.println(student.getFirstName());
            System.out.println(student.getEmail());

            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void saveStudent(Student student) {
        Transaction transaction = null;
        try (Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().openSession()) {
            // start a transaction
            transaction = session.beginTransaction();
            // save the student object
            session.persist(student);
            // commit transaction
            transaction.commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            if (transaction != null) {
                transaction.rollback();
            }
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}
Note that in the above code, we have demonstrated the following methods:
Session.get() → This method returns a persistence object of the given class with the given identifier. It will return null if there is no persistence object.

Session.load() → This method return a persistence object of the given class with the given identifier. It will throw an exception ObjectNotFoundException if an entity does not exist in the database. The load() method may return a proxy object instead of a real persistence object.

Session.byId() → This method is used to obtain a persistence object by it being a primary identifier.

7. Create the main App class and Run an Application

Let's test Hibernate application to connect to the MySQL database.
package net.javaguides.hibernate;

import net.javaguides.hibernate.dao.StudentDao;
import net.javaguides.hibernate.entity.Student;

public class App {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        StudentDao studentDao = new StudentDao();

        Student student = new Student("Ramesh", "Fadatare", "rameshfadatare@javaguides.com");
        Student student1 = new Student("Tom", "Cruise", "tom@javaguides.com");
        Student student2 = new Student("Tony", "stark", "tony@javaguides.com");
        studentDao.saveStudent(student);
        studentDao.saveStudent(student1);
        studentDao.saveStudent(student2);

        studentDao.getStudent(1);
        studentDao.loadStudent(2);
        studentDao.getStudentById(3);
    }
}

Output



GitHub Repository

The complete source code of this article is available on my GitHub Repository. 

Conclusion

In this article, we have created a step-by-step hibernate application to demonstrate the usage of Session.get(), Session.load() and Session.byId() methods to retrieve an entity from database.
You can learn more about Hibernate ORM Framework at Hibernate Tutorial

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