Most Asked JPA Interview Questions in 2026

Most Asked JPA Interview Questions in 2026 Work through these 12 questions out loud. Open any question for the full model answer, the trap to avoid, and the follow-up a panel usually asks.

  1. How does @Transactional work?

    Spring creates a proxy around @Transactional beans. Calling createOrder() from another bean starts a transaction on the thread-bound EntityManager; commit on success, rollback...

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  2. What are Spring Boot starters?

    spring-boot-starter-web brings spring-webmvc, Tomcat, Jackson with tested versions and enables WebMvcAutoConfiguration. You declare one starter instead of 10 coordinates....

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  3. Difference between @Component, @Service, @Repository?

    All register as singleton beans via component scan. Choose by layer for readability: @Repository on DAOs (plus SQLException translation), @Service on business logic, @Component...

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  4. What is the difference between JPA and Hibernate?

    JPA is the API contract; Hibernate is the engine under Spring Boot by default. You write @Entity per JPA spec; Hibernate handles SQL generation. Spring Data JpaRepository adds...

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  5. How do you test Spring Boot applications?

    Unit test services with Mockito — no Spring. @WebMvcTest + MockMvc for controller contract. @DataJpaTest for repository queries. @SpringBootTest + Testcontainers for critical...

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  6. What changed migrating Spring Boot 2 to Spring Boot 3 (Jakarta EE)?

    Upgrade to Java 17+, replace imports javax.persistence → jakarta.persistence, update Spring Security config to SecurityFilterChain lambda DSL, run OpenRewrite migration recipe,...

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  7. Lazy vs eager fetching in JPA — trade-offs?

    Default associations LAZY. Service method needing orders+items uses JOIN FETCH in repository query. Disable spring.jpa.open-in-view=false — forces explicit fetch in service...

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  8. When use @Query native SQL vs JPQL in Spring Data JPA?

    JPQL for standard entity fetches and portable logic. Native for PostgreSQL-specific jsonb queries, recursive CTEs, or performance-tuned index hints after EXPLAIN. Interface...

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  9. How do JPA Specifications (Criteria API) help dynamic queries?

    UserSearchSpec.withStatus(status).and(withNameLike(name)) — repository.findAll(spec, pageable). Criteria API verbose — wrap in static factory methods. Alternative: Querydsl or...

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  10. What is JPA auditing with @CreatedDate and @LastModifiedDate?

    @EnableJpaAuditing + AuditorAware<String> from SecurityContextHolder. Entity: @CreatedDate Instant createdAt; @LastModifiedDate Instant updatedAt. Works with auditing on save()...

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  11. How do Flyway/Liquibase integrate with Spring Boot JPA?

    Prod: spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=validate, Flyway V1__init.sql through Vn. CI: @Testcontainers PostgreSQL + Flyway migrate + integration tests. Never rename column without...

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  12. What is the N+1 query problem and how do you fix it?

    Loading 100 orders then accessing each order's items triggers 101 queries. Fix with JOIN FETCH in JPQL, @EntityGraph on repository method, or a DTO query selecting only...

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