JPA EntityManager: Why use persist() over merge()?

Question

EntityManager.merge() can insert new objects and update existing ones.

Why would one want to use persist() (which can only create new objec

Answer 1

Persist and merge are for two different purposes (they aren't alternatives at all).

(edited to expand differences information)

persist:

• Insert a new register to the database
• Attach the object to the entity manager.

merge:

• Find an attached object with the same id and update it.
• If exists update and return the already attached object.
• If doesn't exist insert the new register to the database.

persist() efficiency:

• It could be more efficient for inserting a new register to a database than merge().
• It doesn't duplicates the original object.

persist() semantics:

• It makes sure that you are inserting and not updating by mistake.

Example:

{
    AnyEntity newEntity;
    AnyEntity nonAttachedEntity;
    AnyEntity attachedEntity;

    // Create a new entity and persist it        
    newEntity = new AnyEntity();
    em.persist(newEntity);

    // Save 1 to the database at next flush
    newEntity.setValue(1);

    // Create a new entity with the same Id than the persisted one.
    AnyEntity nonAttachedEntity = new AnyEntity();
    nonAttachedEntity.setId(newEntity.getId());

    // Save 2 to the database at next flush instead of 1!!!
    nonAttachedEntity.setValue(2);
    attachedEntity = em.merge(nonAttachedEntity);

    // This condition returns true
    // merge has found the already attached object (newEntity) and returns it.
    if(attachedEntity==newEntity) {
            System.out.print("They are the same object!");
    }

    // Set 3 to value
    attachedEntity.setValue(3);
    // Really, now both are the same object. Prints 3
    System.out.println(newEntity.getValue());

    // Modify the un attached object has no effect to the entity manager
    // nor to the other objects
    nonAttachedEntity.setValue(42);
}

This way only exists 1 attached object for any register in the entity manager.

merge() for an entity with an id is something like:

AnyEntity myMerge(AnyEntity entityToSave) {
    AnyEntity attached = em.find(AnyEntity.class, entityToSave.getId());
    if(attached==null) {
            attached = new AnyEntity();
            em.persist(attached);
    }
    BeanUtils.copyProperties(attached, entityToSave);

    return attached;
}

Although if connected to MySQL merge() could be as efficient as persist() using a call to INSERT with ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE option, JPA is a very high level programming and you can't assume this is going to be the case everywhere.