我发现Hibernate文档中的解释很有启发性，因为它们包含了一个用例:

The usage and semantics of merge() seems to be confusing for new users. Firstly, as long as you are not trying to use object state loaded in one entity manager in another new entity manager, you should not need to use merge() at all. Some whole applications will never use this method. Usually merge() is used in the following scenario: The application loads an object in the first entity manager the object is passed up to the presentation layer some modifications are made to the object the object is passed back down to the business logic layer the application persists these modifications by calling merge() in a second entity manager Here is the exact semantic of merge(): if there is a managed instance with the same identifier currently associated with the persistence context, copy the state of the given object onto the managed instance if there is no managed instance currently associated with the persistence context, try to load it from the database, or create a new managed instance the managed instance is returned the given instance does not become associated with the persistence context, it remains detached and is usually discarded

来自:http://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/entitymanager/3.6/reference/en/html/objectstate.html

关于merge的更多细节将帮助你使用merge over persist:

Returning a managed instance other than the original entity is a critical part of the merge process. If an entity instance with the same identifier already exists in the persistence context, the provider will overwrite its state with the state of the entity that is being merged, but the managed version that existed already must be returned to the client so that it can be used. If the provider did not update the Employee instance in the persistence context, any references to that instance will become inconsistent with the new state being merged in. When merge() is invoked on a new entity, it behaves similarly to the persist() operation. It adds the entity to the persistence context, but instead of adding the original entity instance, it creates a new copy and manages that instance instead. The copy that is created by the merge() operation is persisted as if the persist() method were invoked on it. In the presence of relationships, the merge() operation will attempt to update the managed entity to point to managed versions of the entities referenced by the detached entity. If the entity has a relationship to an object that has no persistent identity, the outcome of the merge operation is undefined. Some providers might allow the managed copy to point to the non-persistent object, whereas others might throw an exception immediately. The merge() operation can be optionally cascaded in these cases to prevent an exception from occurring. We will cover cascading of the merge() operation later in this section. If an entity being merged points to a removed entity, an IllegalArgumentException exception will be thrown. Lazy-loading relationships are a special case in the merge operation. If a lazy-loading relationship was not triggered on an entity before it became detached, that relationship will be ignored when the entity is merged. If the relationship was triggered while managed and then set to null while the entity was detached, the managed version of the entity will likewise have the relationship cleared during the merge."

以上所有信息都摘自Mike Keith和Merrick Schnicariol的“Pro JPA 2掌握Java™Persistence API”。第六章。分段分离与合并。这本书实际上是作者专门介绍JPA的第二本书。这本新书比前一本有许多新信息。我非常推荐那些将认真参与JPA的人阅读这本书。我很抱歉匿名发布了我的第一个答案。

这两种方法都会将实体添加到PersistenceContext中，区别在于之后如何处理实体。

Persist获取一个实体实例，将其添加到上下文中，并使该实例被管理(即将跟踪实体的未来更新)。

Merge返回与状态合并的托管实例。它确实返回存在于PersistenceContext中的内容或创建实体的新实例。在任何情况下，它都会从提供的实体复制状态，并返回一个托管副本。传入的实例不会被管理(你所做的任何更改都不会成为事务的一部分——除非你再次调用merge)。不过您可以使用返回的实例(托管实例)。

也许一个代码示例会有所帮助。

MyEntity e = new MyEntity();

// scenario 1
// tran starts
em.persist(e); 
e.setSomeField(someValue); 
// tran ends, and the row for someField is updated in the database

// scenario 2
// tran starts
e = new MyEntity();
em.merge(e);
e.setSomeField(anotherValue); 
// tran ends but the row for someField is not updated in the database
// (you made the changes *after* merging)
      
// scenario 3
// tran starts
e = new MyEntity();
MyEntity e2 = em.merge(e);
e2.setSomeField(anotherValue); 
// tran ends and the row for someField is updated
// (the changes were made to e2, not e)

场景1和3大致相同，但在某些情况下，您可能希望使用场景2。

我在我的实体上得到了lazyLoading异常，因为我试图访问一个会话中的惰性加载集合。

我要做的是在一个单独的请求中，从会话检索实体，然后尝试访问我的jsp页面中的一个集合，这是有问题的。

为了缓解这个问题，我在控制器中更新了相同的实体，并将其传递给我的jsp，尽管我想象当我在会话中重新保存时，它也可以通过SessionScope访问，而不会抛出一个LazyLoadingException，这是示例2的修改:

以下是我行之有效的方法:

// scenario 2 MY WAY
// tran starts
e = new MyEntity();
e = em.merge(e); // re-assign to the same entity "e"

//access e from jsp and it will work dandy!!

Merge不会更新传递的实体，除非该实体被管理。即使实体ID被设置为一个现有的DB记录，一个新的记录将在数据库中创建。

持久化和合并是为了两个不同的目的(它们根本不是替代方案)。

(编辑以扩大差异信息)

坚持:

向数据库中插入一个新的寄存器 将对象附加到实体管理器。

走：

找到具有相同id的附加对象并更新它。 如果存在，则更新并返回已附加的对象。 如果不存在，则将新寄存器插入数据库。

persist()效率:

在向数据库插入新寄存器时，它可能比merge()更有效。 它不会复制原始对象。

persist()的语义:

它确保您是在插入而不是错误地更新。

例子:

{
    AnyEntity newEntity;
    AnyEntity nonAttachedEntity;
    AnyEntity attachedEntity;

    // Create a new entity and persist it        
    newEntity = new AnyEntity();
    em.persist(newEntity);

    // Save 1 to the database at next flush
    newEntity.setValue(1);

    // Create a new entity with the same Id than the persisted one.
    AnyEntity nonAttachedEntity = new AnyEntity();
    nonAttachedEntity.setId(newEntity.getId());

    // Save 2 to the database at next flush instead of 1!!!
    nonAttachedEntity.setValue(2);
    attachedEntity = em.merge(nonAttachedEntity);

    // This condition returns true
    // merge has found the already attached object (newEntity) and returns it.
    if(attachedEntity==newEntity) {
            System.out.print("They are the same object!");
    }

    // Set 3 to value
    attachedEntity.setValue(3);
    // Really, now both are the same object. Prints 3
    System.out.println(newEntity.getValue());

    // Modify the un attached object has no effect to the entity manager
    // nor to the other objects
    nonAttachedEntity.setValue(42);
}

这种方法对于实体管理器中的任何寄存器只存在一个附加对象。

对于带id的实体，Merge()是这样的:

AnyEntity myMerge(AnyEntity entityToSave) {
    AnyEntity attached = em.find(AnyEntity.class, entityToSave.getId());
    if(attached==null) {
            attached = new AnyEntity();
            em.persist(attached);
    }
    BeanUtils.copyProperties(attached, entityToSave);

    return attached;
}

虽然如果连接到MySQL merge()可以像persist()一样有效，使用一个调用INSERT和ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE选项，JPA是一个非常高级的编程，你不能假设这将是任何地方的情况。