Hibernate: getReference hands back a proxy that throws after the session closes

getReference (and JpaRepository.getReferenceById) never hits the database. It returns an uninitialised proxy, and the SELECT happens on the first getter - which, outside the transaction, is a LazyInitializationException instead.

• Hibernate: without @Version, the last write silently wins
• Hibernate: orphanRemoval and CascadeType.REMOVE are different rules
• Hibernate: equals/hashCode on a generated id breaks HashSet membership
• Hibernate: the first-level cache means a re-query never sees another transaction's update
• Hibernate: merge returns a copy, and the object you passed in stays detached
• Hibernate: flush order is fixed, so a unique constraint fails on a swap

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Published 2026-08-25

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