Hibernate: Enum ordinal storage breaks when you reorder the enum

The default is ORDINAL - an int. Insert a value in the middle and every existing row now means something else.

Code

@Enumerated(EnumType.STRING)     // ALWAYS
Status status;

// Default (dangerous):
@Enumerated                      // ORDINAL: 0, 1, 2 ...
Status status;

Output

ORDINAL after inserting CANCELLED between PLACED and SHIPPED:
every historical "1" changes meaning from SHIPPED to CANCELLED.
STRING stores 'PLACED' and survives reordering.

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Published 2026-08-11