- How to add PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven
- Introduction
- Why do we need PostgreSQL drivers?
- What is Maven?
- PostgreSQL JDBC driver and Maven repositories
- What does a POM file do?
- Step-by-step instructions for adding the PostgreSQL JDBC driver dependency
- Add PostgreSQL Database as a Maven Dependency
- What Is Maven
- Connect PostgreSQL to Maven
- What Is a Driver
- Add the JDBC Driver
- What Is the POM File in a Project in Maven
- What Is a JAR File
- Add PostgreSQL Driver as a Dependency in Maven
- for PostgreSQL Versions Up to and Including 9.1
- for PostgreSQL Versions Above and Equal to 9.2
- Conclusion
How to add PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven
This article provides instructions for adding the PostgreSQL JDBC driver to a Java project using Maven.
- Introduction
- Why do we need PostgreSQL drivers?
- What is Maven?
- PostgreSQL JDBC driver and Maven repositories
- What does a POM file do?
Have you at any point needed to connect to your PostgreSQL database using Java and didn’t have a clue how to add it as a Maven dependency?
Now you can use this guide as an overview.
Introduction
Before jumping in to the nitty gritty, let’s first get a basic overview on why we need a PostgreSQL driver.
Why do we need PostgreSQL drivers?
To connect a frontend application to any database you need to use a respective database driver. These drivers vary for different frontend programming languages. Once primarily available for relational databases, they are now available for almost any type of data source, such as Big Data, NoSQL, and SaaS. One such driver is JDBC driver. JDBC drivers are the easiest way for many developers to connect to databases from their Java applications.
Drivers do a fair amount of work, from the basics of opening socket connections from your Java application to the database and submitting your SQL queries, to more advanced features, like offering the ability to receive events from the database.
To connect your database in Java, you need to have a JDBC driver. PostgreSQL, the world’s best open source relational database, comes with its own JDBC driver, which can be found on the PostgreSQL community website. So, to connect to a PostgreSQL database, you will need to go to the PostgreSQL website, download the PostgreSQL JDBC driver JAR file, and add it to your project.
What is Maven?
Maven is a build automation tool used primarily for Java projects. Maven can also be used to build and manage projects written in C#, Ruby, Scala, and other languages. The Maven project is hosted by the Apache Software Foundation, where it was formerly part of the Jakarta Project. It streamlines the project development process, enabling you to create and publish swiftly.
PostgreSQL JDBC driver and Maven repositories
There are different approaches to design and configure your project in Java. One of the most common is using Apache Maven. The benefit of Apache Maven is that you only need to add dependencies in the POM file; the rest is taken care of by Maven. You do not need to add the JAR files manually yourself. You can simply add the PostgreSQL JDBC dependency to the project’s POM file. You can browse around the Maven repository to get a sense of the many dependencies that might be needed for your project.
What does a POM file do?
POM stands for Project Object Model. It is an XML file that stores crucial information about a Maven project, including configuration details used by Maven. It’s the place where we can specify plugins, dependencies, and project versions.
Below is a sample POM file where we can see a few basic XML tags.
Maven uses these tags to uniquely identify the project. Here, is the name of the company or group that created this project, is the name of the project, as the name suggest is the version of the project, is the main tag where we will include all the dependencies of the project, and is the tag where we specify individual dependencies.
The ZIP format Java ARchive (JAR) file is essential in Maven project development. JAR files help you compress, decompress, and archive files. You also need libraries when you construct projects. In Maven, libraries, JAR files, are all collectively called dependencies because you add them to the pom.xml file to create your Maven project.
Step-by-step instructions for adding the PostgreSQL JDBC driver dependency
Here are step-by-step instructions for how to add PostgreSQL’s JDBC driver dependency. As a prerequisite, I will assume you have any JAVA IDE installed on your system, like Eclipse, Netbeans, etc.
We will be using Netbeans for a sample test project.
1. Open Netbeans and Click on File → New Project.
2. A pop up will open asking you to enter Categories and Project type, As we are using Maven I have chosen Maven as Category and POM as project type, as shown below:
3. Next, it will ask you to enter project name and other details:
4. After clicking Finish, you will notice a tree on the left-hand side of your screen where Modules, Project Files, and Dependencies are listed.
5. As this is a new project, you will notice that the Dependencies tree is empty:
6. Here you will also find your project main POM file, which will look like this:
7. This is also the place where we can add the dependencies. You can check this Maven Central link to find out which is the latest version of the PostgreSQL JDBC artifact.
8. At the time of this writing, 42.2.15 is the latest PostgreSQL JDBC Driver version available, so we will be using that in our test project. On Maven Central you will be able to find the tag for the dependency, as shown below:
9. Copy the above dependency tag into your project pom.xml, as shown below:
10. As soon as you save your POM file, you will notice that the Dependencies tree is updated, and PostgreSQL JDBC is displayed.
I hope that this article has proven helpful in giving a sense of how easy it is to add PostgreSQL JDBC driver as a dependency in Maven.
Add PostgreSQL Database as a Maven Dependency
- What Is Maven
- Connect PostgreSQL to Maven
- Add PostgreSQL Driver as a Dependency in Maven
- Conclusion
Are you developing a Java application in Maven and are trying to connect the PostgreSQL database to Maven using the PostgreSQL drivers?
It is essential to add the PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven’s pom.xml file to connect your Java application with the PostgreSQL database at the back end of the application.
However, what are these terms, and how does the entire process work? Before moving on to the process of adding PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven, the article describes the entire process and each aspect involved in the process in detail.
Read the entire article to understand how to connect the Maven application with the PostgreSQL database.
What Is Maven
If you are not aware of the working of Maven, it is a build automation tool used to develop projects. It can build and manage projects in numerous languages, such as C#, Ruby, Scala, etc.
However, Maven is primarily known for developing and managing Java projects.
Apache Software Foundation hosts Maven, which can build, publish, and deploy various projects simultaneously. Maven is a software project management and comprehension tool that helps streamline different projects to allow excellent project management.
Connect PostgreSQL to Maven
To connect PostgreSQL to Maven, a PostgreSQL driver is added as a dependency in Maven’s POM.xml file.
What Is a Driver
A driver is required to connect the frontend application to the database at the backend. Drivers offer several features to the users.
Drivers open socket connection from the Java application to the database, submit SQL queries, allow users to receive events from the database, and so on.
Different front-end programming languages require different drivers. If you are using Java at the front end, the JDBC driver will be required to connect the front-end application with the database at the backend.
In the case of PostgreSQL, the server comes with its own JDBC driver. PostgreSQL’s JDBC driver is available on its community website.
Download the PostgreSQL’s JDBC driver JAR file from its community website and add that file to your project to connect it with the PostgreSQL database.
Add the JDBC Driver
Dependencies are added to the POM file of the projects designed using Maven. If you are developing your project in Java and using PostgreSQL’s database, add the PostgreSQL JDBC dependency to the project’s POM file.
To get an idea of the different dependencies required for your project, visit Maven’s repository and browse around it.
What Is the POM File in a Project in Maven
Maven is based on the Project Object Model (POM) concept. Every project has a POM file that stores the most crucial information related to that project.
A POM file is an XML file. It uses several XML tags to specify plugins, dependencies, and project versions.
- The tag stores the project version.
- The tag stores all the project dependencies.
- A tag specifies an individual dependency.
What Is a JAR File
JAR files were introduced along with the explanation of drivers. Let’s define what JAR files are.
A JAR file is a Java Archive zipped file. It is a crucial component in the project development in Maven.
JAR files compress, decompress, and archive different files. JAR files are dependencies added to the project’s POM file, along with the required libraries to develop the project.
Add PostgreSQL Driver as a Dependency in Maven
Now that all the technical terms have been defined and the entire process has been highlighted, here is the main part of the article that will help you add the PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven. This section speaks about the same things that have been mentioned above.
PostgreSQL driver JAR files have to be included in the central repository of Maven, as discussed earlier, in the POM.xml file of the project.
There is a slight difference when including the PostgreSQL driver as a dependency in Maven. The difference is due to a different PostgreSQL version.
for PostgreSQL Versions Up to and Including 9.1
If you are connecting the PostgreSQL database to your application, and the version of PostgreSQL is below 9.2 , use the following approach to add dependency in Maven’s POM.xml file.
postgresql artifactId>postgresql VERSION
Under the tag, add a new tag for the dependency of the PostgreSQL JDBC driver.
for PostgreSQL Versions Above and Equal to 9.2
If you are connecting the PostgreSQL database to your application, and the version of PostgreSQL is above or equal to 9.2 , use the following approach to add dependency in Maven’s POM.xml file.
org.postgresql artifactId>postgresql VERSION
Under the tag, add a new tag for the dependency of the PostgreSQL JDBC driver.
Note: There is a slight difference in the definition of the tag for different versions of PostgreSQL.
Conclusion
The article has been specially curated to help users develop their Java applications in Maven. Connecting a database at the back end of each project is essential to store information and process it later.
It is quite an easy procedure to connect the PostgreSQL database with your Java application in Maven. The developer only needs to add a tag with the PostgreSQL JDBC driver’s JAR file in the POM.xml project file.
The POM.xml file can be found in Maven projects, where all the essential information related to the project is saved.
Good luck with the development of your Java application. If there are any further queries, do let us know.
Hello, I am Bilal, a research enthusiast who tends to break and make code from scratch. I dwell deep into the latest issues faced by the developer community and provide answers and different solutions. Apart from that, I am just another normal developer with a laptop, a mug of coffee, some biscuits and a thick spectacle!