Depending on the underlying JPQL or Criteria API query type, DISTINCT has two meanings in JPA.
For scalar queries, which return a scalar projection, like the following query:
List<Integer> publicationYears = entityManager
.createQuery(
"select distinct year(p.createdOn) " +
"from Post p " +
"order by year(p.createdOn)", Integer.class)
.getResultList();
LOGGER.info("Publication years: {}", publicationYears);
The DISTINCT keyword should be passed to the underlying SQL statement because we want the DB engine to filter duplicates prior to returning the result set:
SELECT DISTINCT
extract(YEAR FROM p.created_on) AS col_0_0_
FROM
post p
ORDER BY
extract(YEAR FROM p.created_on)
-- Publication years: [2016, 2018]
For entity queries, DISTINCT has a different meaning.
Without using DISTINCT, a query like the following one:
List<Post> posts = entityManager
.createQuery(
"select p " +
"from Post p " +
"left join fetch p.comments " +
"where p.title = :title", Post.class)
.setParameter(
"title",
"High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!"
)
.getResultList();
LOGGER.info(
"Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: {}",
posts.stream().map(Post::getId).collect(Collectors.toList())
);
is going to JOIN the post and the post_comment tables like this:
SELECT p.id AS id1_0_0_,
pc.id AS id1_1_1_,
p.created_on AS created_2_0_0_,
p.title AS title3_0_0_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_1_,
pc.review AS review2_1_1_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_0__
FROM post p
LEFT OUTER JOIN
post_comment pc ON p.id=pc.post_id
WHERE
p.title='High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!'
-- Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: [1, 1]
But the parent post records are duplicated in the result set for each associated post_comment row. For this reason, the List of Post entities will contain duplicate Post entity references.
To eliminate the Post entity references, we need to use DISTINCT:
List<Post> posts = entityManager
.createQuery(
"select distinct p " +
"from Post p " +
"left join fetch p.comments " +
"where p.title = :title", Post.class)
.setParameter(
"title",
"High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!"
)
.getResultList();
LOGGER.info(
"Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: {}",
posts.stream().map(Post::getId).collect(Collectors.toList())
);
But then DISTINCT is also passed to the SQL query, and that's not desirable at all:
SELECT DISTINCT
p.id AS id1_0_0_,
pc.id AS id1_1_1_,
p.created_on AS created_2_0_0_,
p.title AS title3_0_0_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_1_,
pc.review AS review2_1_1_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_0__
FROM post p
LEFT OUTER JOIN
post_comment pc ON p.id=pc.post_id
WHERE
p.title='High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!'
-- Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: [1]
By passing DISTINCT to the SQL query, the EXECUTION PLAN is going to execute an extra Sort phase which adds overhead without bringing any value since the parent-child combinations always return unique records because of the child PK column:
Unique (cost=23.71..23.72 rows=1 width=1068) (actual time=0.131..0.132 rows=2 loops=1)
-> Sort (cost=23.71..23.71 rows=1 width=1068) (actual time=0.131..0.131 rows=2 loops=1)
Sort Key: p.id, pc.id, p.created_on, pc.post_id, pc.review
Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 25kB
-> Hash Right Join (cost=11.76..23.70 rows=1 width=1068) (actual time=0.054..0.058 rows=2 loops=1)
Hash Cond: (pc.post_id = p.id)
-> Seq Scan on post_comment pc (cost=0.00..11.40 rows=140 width=532) (actual time=0.010..0.010 rows=2 loops=1)
-> Hash (cost=11.75..11.75 rows=1 width=528) (actual time=0.027..0.027 rows=1 loops=1)
Buckets: 1024 Batches: 1 Memory Usage: 9kB
-> Seq Scan on post p (cost=0.00..11.75 rows=1 width=528) (actual time=0.017..0.018 rows=1 loops=1)
Filter: ((title)::text = 'High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!'::text)
Rows Removed by Filter: 3
Planning time: 0.227 ms
Execution time: 0.179 ms
To eliminate the Sort phase from the execution plan, we need to use the HINT_PASS_DISTINCT_THROUGH JPA query hint:
List<Post> posts = entityManager
.createQuery(
"select distinct p " +
"from Post p " +
"left join fetch p.comments " +
"where p.title = :title", Post.class)
.setParameter(
"title",
"High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!"
)
.setHint(QueryHints.HINT_PASS_DISTINCT_THROUGH, false)
.getResultList();
LOGGER.info(
"Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: {}",
posts.stream().map(Post::getId).collect(Collectors.toList())
);
And now, the SQL query will not contain DISTINCT but Post entity reference duplicates are going to be removed:
SELECT
p.id AS id1_0_0_,
pc.id AS id1_1_1_,
p.created_on AS created_2_0_0_,
p.title AS title3_0_0_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_1_,
pc.review AS review2_1_1_,
pc.post_id AS post_id3_1_0__
FROM post p
LEFT OUTER JOIN
post_comment pc ON p.id=pc.post_id
WHERE
p.title='High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!'
-- Fetched the following Post entity identifiers: [1]
And the Execution Plan is going to confirm that we no longer have an extra Sort phase this time:
Hash Right Join (cost=11.76..23.70 rows=1 width=1068) (actual time=0.066..0.069 rows=2 loops=1)
Hash Cond: (pc.post_id = p.id)
-> Seq Scan on post_comment pc (cost=0.00..11.40 rows=140 width=532) (actual time=0.011..0.011 rows=2 loops=1)
-> Hash (cost=11.75..11.75 rows=1 width=528) (actual time=0.041..0.041 rows=1 loops=1)
Buckets: 1024 Batches: 1 Memory Usage: 9kB
-> Seq Scan on post p (cost=0.00..11.75 rows=1 width=528) (actual time=0.036..0.037 rows=1 loops=1)
Filter: ((title)::text = 'High-Performance Java Persistence eBook has been released!'::text)
Rows Removed by Filter: 3
Planning time: 1.184 ms
Execution time: 0.160 ms