Difference between Hibernate mapping file and annotation

Question

Today I was trying to create a application using Hibernate as ORM. So while creating I had a doubt. What is the best practice to use, Hibernate mapping file (.hbm file) or annotations ? What are the pros and cons of it ? Please help me in understanding.

Answer 1

• there is no functional difference. You can do (almost) the same things with both approaches
• xml files were used before Java had annotations (added in 1.5), so they can be considered an outdated way of mapping
• it is generally preferred to use JPA annotations rather than hibernate-specific ones; if using xml - there is a JPA xml format, which should be preferred to hibernate native one