Difference Between save and saveOrUpdate in Hibernate

In this post, we will discuss the difference between Session.save() and Session.saveOrUpdate() method in Hibernate with an example.
Learn the Hibernate ORM framework at https://www.javaguides.net/p/hibernate-tutorial.html

Hibernate - difference between Session.save() and Session.saveOrUpdate()  method

  1. The main difference between Session.save() and Session.saveOrUpdate() method is that save() generates a new identifier and INSERT record into a database while Session.saveOrUpdate() can either INSERT or UPDATE based upon existence of a record. Clearly, saveOrUpdate() is more flexible in terms of use but it involves extra processing to find out whether a record already exists in the table or not.
Session.save() method example: The below code uses Session.save() method to insert a new record into a database: 
public void saveExample(Student student) {
    Transaction transaction = null;
    try (Session session = HibernateJavaConfig.getSessionfactory().openSession()) {

        // start the transaction
        transaction = session.beginTransaction();

        // save student entity
        Serializable id = session.save(student);
        System.out.println("database table id -> " + id);
        // commit transaction
        transaction.commit();

    } catch (Exception e) {
        if (transaction != null) {
            transaction.rollback();
        }
    }
}
Session.saveOrUpdate() method example: The below code uses Session.saveOrUpdate() method INSERT or UPDATE a record based on the existence of the record in a database.
public void saveOrUpdateExample(Student student) {
      Transaction transaction = null;
      try(Session session = HibernateJavaConfig.getSessionfactory().openSession()){
   
         // start the transaction
         transaction = session.beginTransaction();
   
         // first save student entity using saveOrUpdate() method
         session.saveOrUpdate(student);   
   
         // get the student object
         Student student2 = session.get(Student.class, student.getId());
   
         // update the student2 object   
         student2.setFirstName("Prabhas");
         student2.setEmail("prabhas@gmail.com");
   
         // update student entity using saveOrUpdate() method
         session.saveOrUpdate(student2);
   
         // commit transaction
         transaction.commit();
   
     }catch (Exception e) {
         if(transaction != null) {
          transaction.rollback();
      }
} 
  1. The return type of the Session.save() method is java.io.Serializable. It returns the newly generated identifier id value as a Serializable object. While return type of the Session.saveOrUpdate() method is void (does not return anything).
Here are the return types of these methods from the Java API doc.
Session.save() method:
Serializable org.hibernate.Session.save(Object object)
Session.persist() method:
void org.hibernate.Session.saveOrUpdate(Object object)

Video

The below video explained the difference between save() and saveOrUpdate() method in Hibernate with a coding example:

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