Index: admin/rest/src/test/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/PropertiesBagTest.java
===================================================================
--- admin/rest/src/test/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/PropertiesBagTest.java	(revision 44630)
+++ admin/rest/src/test/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/PropertiesBagTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@
     protected static final String URL_DOMAIN_PROPERTIES = "/domain/property";
     protected static final String URL_JAVA_CONFIG_PROPERTIES = "/domain/configs/config/default-config/java-config/property";
     protected static final String URL_SERVER_PROPERTIES = "/domain/servers/server/server/property";
+    protected static final String URL_DERBYPOOL_PROPERTIES = "/domain/resources/jdbc-connection-pool/DerbyPool/property";
     private static final String REQUEST_FORMAT = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON;
 
     @Test
@@ -81,6 +82,50 @@
     public void serverProperties() {
         createAndDeleteProperties(URL_SERVER_PROPERTIES);
     }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testOptimizedPropertyHandling() {
+        // First, test changing one property and adding a new
+        List<Map<String, String>> properties = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
+        properties.add(createProperty("PortNumber","1527"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("Password","APP"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("User","APP"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("serverName","localhost"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("DatabaseName","sun-appserv-samples"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("connectionAttributes",";create=false"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("foo","bar","test"));
+        createProperties(URL_DERBYPOOL_PROPERTIES, properties);
+        
+        List<Map<String, String>> newProperties = getProperties(get(URL_DERBYPOOL_PROPERTIES));
+        for (Map<String, String> property : newProperties) {
+            if (property.get("name").equals("connectionAttributes")) {
+                assertEquals(";create=false", property.get("value"));
+            } else if (property.get("name").equals("foo")) {
+                assertEquals("bar", property.get("value"));
+                assertEquals("test", property.get("description"));
+            }
+        }
+        
+        // Now test changing that property back and deleting the new one
+        properties = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
+        properties.add(createProperty("PortNumber","1527"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("Password","APP"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("User","APP"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("serverName","localhost"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("DatabaseName","sun-appserv-samples"));
+        properties.add(createProperty("connectionAttributes",";create=true"));
+        
+        createProperties(URL_DERBYPOOL_PROPERTIES, properties);
+        
+        newProperties = getProperties(get(URL_DERBYPOOL_PROPERTIES));
+        for (Map<String, String> property : newProperties) {
+            if (property.get("name").equals("connectionAttributes")) {
+                assertEquals(";create=true", property.get("value"));
+            } else if (property.get("name").equals("foo")) {
+                fail("The property was not deleted as expected.");
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
     protected void createAndDeleteProperties(String endpoint) {
         ClientResponse response = get(endpoint);
@@ -90,17 +135,24 @@
         List<Map<String, String>> properties = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
 
         for(int i = 0, max = generateRandomNumber(16); i < max; i++) {
-            properties.add(new HashMap<String, String>() {{
-                put ("name", "property_" + generateRandomString());
-                put ("value", generateRandomString());
-                put ("description", generateRandomString());
-            }});
+            properties.add(createProperty("property_" + generateRandomString(), generateRandomString(), generateRandomString()));
         }
 
         createProperties(endpoint, properties);
         response = delete(endpoint);
         checkStatusForSuccess(response);
     }
+    
+    protected Map<String, String> createProperty(final String name, final String value) {
+        return createProperty(name, value, "");
+    }
+    protected Map<String, String> createProperty(final String name, final String value, final String description) {
+        return new HashMap<String, String>() {{
+                put ("name", name);
+                put ("value", value);
+                put ("description", description);
+            }};
+    }
 
     protected void createProperties(String endpoint, List<Map<String, String>> properties) {
         final String payload = buildPayload(properties);
Index: admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/Util.java
===================================================================
--- admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/Util.java	(revision 44630)
+++ admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/Util.java	(working copy)
@@ -45,10 +45,13 @@
 import javax.ws.rs.core.UriInfo;
 import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.URLDecoder;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
 import javax.ws.rs.core.PathSegment;
+import org.glassfish.admin.rest.utils.xml.RestActionReporter;
+import org.glassfish.api.ActionReport.MessagePart;
 import org.glassfish.api.admin.ParameterMap;
 import org.jvnet.hk2.component.Habitat;
 
@@ -280,16 +283,44 @@
             candidatePathSegment = pathSegments;
         }
 
-        StringBuilder setBasePath = new StringBuilder();
+        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
         for(PathSegment pathSegment :  candidatePathSegment) {
-            setBasePath.append(pathSegment.getPath());
-            setBasePath.append('.');
+            sb.append(pathSegment.getPath());
+            sb.append('.');
         }
+        String setBasePath = sb.toString();
         ParameterMap parameters = new ParameterMap();
+        Map<String, String> currentValues = getCurrentValues(setBasePath.toString(), habitat);
+        
         for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : data.entrySet()) {
-            StringBuilder setExpression = new StringBuilder(setBasePath);
-            parameters.add("DEFAULT", setExpression.append(entry.getKey()).append('=').append(entry.getValue()).toString());
+            String currentValue = currentValues.get(setBasePath + entry.getKey());
+            if ((currentValue == null) || (!currentValue.equals(entry.getValue()))) {
+                parameters.add("DEFAULT", setBasePath + entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue());
+            }
         }
-        return ResourceUtil.runCommand("set", parameters, habitat, ""); //TODO The last parameter is resultType and is not used. Refactor the called method to remove it
+        if (!parameters.entrySet().isEmpty()) {
+           return ResourceUtil.runCommand("set", parameters, habitat, ""); //TODO The last parameter is resultType and is not used. Refactor the called method to remove it
+        } else {
+            return new RestActionReporter(); // noop
+        }
     }
+    
+    private static Map<String, String> getCurrentValues(String basePath, Habitat habitat) {
+        Map<String, String> values = new HashMap<String, String>();
+        final String path = (basePath.endsWith(".")) ? basePath.substring(0, basePath.length()-1) : basePath;
+        RestActionReporter gr = ResourceUtil.runCommand("get", new ParameterMap() {{ 
+            add ("DEFAULT", path); 
+        }}, habitat, "");
+        
+        MessagePart top = gr.getTopMessagePart();
+        for (MessagePart child : top.getChildren()) {
+            String message = child.getMessage();
+            if (message.contains("=")) {
+                String[] parts = message.split("=");
+                values.put(parts[0], (parts.length > 1) ? parts[1] : "");
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return values;
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
Index: admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/resources/PropertiesBagResource.java
===================================================================
--- admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/resources/PropertiesBagResource.java	(revision 44630)
+++ admin/rest/src/main/java/org/glassfish/admin/rest/resources/PropertiesBagResource.java	(working copy)
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@
 import org.glassfish.admin.rest.results.OptionsResult;
 import org.glassfish.admin.rest.utils.xml.RestActionReporter;
 import org.glassfish.api.ActionReport;
-import org.jvnet.hk2.config.ConfigBean;
 import org.jvnet.hk2.config.Dom;
 import org.jvnet.hk2.component.Habitat;
+import org.jvnet.hk2.config.types.Property;
 import org.jvnet.hk2.config.TransactionFailure;
 
 /**
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@
     @Produces({"text/html;qs=2",MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON, MediaType.APPLICATION_XML})
     public Response delete() {
         try {
-            deleteExistingProperties();
+            Map<String, Property> existing = getExistingProperties();
+            deleteMissingProperties(existing, null);
+            
             String successMessage = localStrings.getLocalString("rest.resource.delete.message",
                         "\"{0}\" deleted successfully.", new Object[]{uriInfo.getAbsolutePath()});
             return ResourceUtil.getResponse(200, successMessage, requestHeaders, uriInfo);
@@ -180,7 +182,8 @@
         RestActionReporter ar = new RestActionReporter();
         ar.setActionDescription("Property");
         try {
-            deleteExistingProperties();
+            Map<String, Property> existing = getExistingProperties();
+            deleteMissingProperties(existing, properties);
             Map<String, String> data = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
             for (Map<String, String> property : properties) {
                 String escapedName = getEscapedPropertyName(property.get("name"));
@@ -214,13 +217,32 @@
         
         return new ActionReportResult("properties", ar, new OptionsResult(Util.getResourceName(uriInfo)));
     }
+    
+    protected Map<String, Property> getExistingProperties() {
+        Map<String, Property> properties = new HashMap<String, Property>();
+        for (Dom child : parent.nodeElements(tagName)) {
+            Property property = child.createProxy();
+            properties.put(property.getName(), property);
+        }
+        return properties;
+    }
 
-    protected void deleteExistingProperties() throws TransactionFailure {
+    protected void deleteMissingProperties(Map<String, Property> existing, List<Map<String, String>> properties) throws TransactionFailure {
+        Set<String> propNames = new HashSet<String>();
+        if (properties != null) {
+            for (Map<String, String> property : properties) {
+                propNames.add(property.get("name"));
+            }
+        }
+        
         HashMap<String, String> data = new HashMap<String, String>();
-        for (final Dom existingProp : parent.nodeElements(tagName)) {
-            data.clear();
-            String escapedName = getEscapedPropertyName(((ConfigBean) existingProp).attribute("name"));
-            data.put (escapedName, "");
+        for (final Property existingProp : existing.values()) {
+            if (!propNames.contains(existingProp.getName())) {
+                String escapedName = getEscapedPropertyName(existingProp.getName());
+                data.put (escapedName, "");
+            }
+        }
+        if (!data.isEmpty()) {
             Util.applyChanges(data, uriInfo, habitat);
         }
     }