iBATIS vs Hibernate

There are major differences between iBatis and Hibernate but both the solutions work well, given their specific domain. Personally I would suggest you should use iBATIS if:

• You want to create your own SQL's and are willing to maintain them.
• your environment is driven by relational data model.
• you have to work existing and complex schema's.

And simply use Hibernate if:

• Your environment is driven by object model and wants generates SQL automatically.

To count there are few differences:

• iBATIS is:
  • Simpler
  • Faster development time
  • Flixable
  • Much smaller in package size

• Hibernate:
  • Generates SQL for you which means you don't spend time on SQL
  • Provides much more advance cache
  • Highly scalable

Other difference is that iBATIS makes use of SQL which could be database dependent where as Hibernate makes use of HQL which is relatively independent of databases and it is easier to change db in Hibernate.

Hibernate maps your Java POJO objects to the Database tables where as iBatis maps the ResultSet from JDBC API to your POJO Objets.

If you are using stored procedures, well you can do it in Hibernate but it is little difficult in comparision of iBATIS. As an alternative solution iBATIS maps results sets to objects, so no need to care about table structures. This works very well for stored procedures, works very well for reporting applications, etc

Finally, Hibernate and iBATIS both are open source Object Relational Mapping(ORM) tools available in the industry. Use of each of these tools depends on the context you are using them. Hibernate and iBatis both also have good support from SPRING framework so it should not be a problem to chose one of them.

About iBATIS :
1. iBATIS is a persistence framework that provides the benefits of SQL but avoids the complexity of JDBC.
2. iBATIS encourages the direct use of SQL and ensures that all the benefits of SQL are not overridden by the framework itself.
3. Simplicity is iBATIS's greatest advantage, as it provides a simple mapping and API layer that can be used to build data-access code.
4. iBATIS enables the data model and the object model to be independent of each other.

When to use iBATIS :
1. iBATIS is best used when you need complete control of the SQL.
2. It is also useful when the SQL queries need to be fine-tuned.

When Not to Use iBATIS:
1. iBATIS should not be used when you have full control over both the application and the database design, because in such cases the application could be modified to suit the database, or vice versa.
2. iBATIS is also inappropriate for non-relational databases, because such databases do not support transactions and other key features that iBATIS uses.

Why would I use MyBatis?

The question arises: why would we want to use another persistence framework when Grails already includes GORM? GORM is, arguably, the most productive ORM implementation available. The underlying Hibernate framework is extremely flexible and can be fit to any 'corner case' persistence issue.

GORM and MyBatis are complementary approaches. Generally, prefer GORM over MyBatis. However, there are a few situations where you may find MyBatis to express the concepts more clearly. Here are a few examples:

• Working with stored procedures, such as in a Transaction Script architecture
• Projects where database developers need to perform fine-grained tuning of SQL
• Porting of legacy applications to Grails

About Hibernate :
1. Hibernate is an open source, lightweight object-relational mapping solution.
2. Hibernate includes a very powerful query language called Hibernate Query Language, or HQL.
3. HQL is very similar to SQL, and also defines some additional conventions.
4. HQL also supports many advanced features of pagination and dynamic profiling that SQL has never supported.
5. HQL does not require any explicit joins when working with multiple tables.
6. Hibernate makes object-relational mapping simple by mapping the metadata in an XML file that defines the table in the database that needs to be mapped to a particular class.

When to use Hibernate :
1. Hibernate is best used to leverage end-to-end OR mapping. It provides a complete ORM solution, but leaves you control over queries.
2. Hibernate is the best option for object-oriented programmers who are less familiar with SQL.