Companies widely use Databases and Data Warehouses to maintain their valuable data coming from various Websites, Platforms, and Applications. Databases are the backbone of all applications in the digital world. Therefore, it is essential to establish a connection between the applications developed and the popular Database Management Systems. This post talks about MariaDB Java Connector which is used to connect applications developed in the Java programming language to MariaDB and MySQL Databases.
MariaDB is a highly popular and widely used open-source Database, used by developers all over the world. MariaDB Java Connector is simply a JDBC Driver used to provide Database connectivity to the MariaDB Server using the standard JDBC API (Application Programming Interface). This post will help you use the MariaDB Java Driver to connect to MariaDB Databases. But beforehand let’s discuss this robust Database in brief.
Table of Contents
What is MariaDB?
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MariaDB is one of the widely used open-source Relational Database Systems (RDBMS) that helps companies manage their data in a structured way. It shares a close resemblance to MySQL as it is developed by the original developers of MySQL, hence it is also referred to as a community-developed fork of the MySQL Database. MariaDB is fast, reliable, and scalable, and supports many operating systems, applications, and platforms.
MariaDB is easy to set up and is used by both small and large enterprises to perform data processing tasks. It is fully GPL licensed and is available to use on Windows, Linux, and macOS. MariaDB Database is used by industry leaders including Wikipedia, Google, Amazon Web Services, Ubuntu, and others. You can use MariaDB’s Storage Engines, Plugins, and the SQL Interface to access data, making it safe, convenient, and easy to master.
Key Features of MariaDB
Below are some of the key features of MariaDB that can be attributed to its growing popularity.
- MariaDB supports standard Structured Query Language (SQL) statements, functions, variables, etc. There are many client programs for it such as mysqldump and mysqladmin.
- MariaDB supports parallel Data Replication, and multiple Storage Engines including InnoDB, Spider, Aria, Cassandra, MariaDB ColumnStore, and others.
- The latest versions of MariaDB (10.0 onwards) support Parallel Query Execution allowing users to execute multiple queries simultaneously and swiftly.
- MariaDB also supports JSON APIs which lets users insert JSON documents in a specially designated table column.
- MariaDB comes with a Sequence Storage Engine that allows users to create ascending/descending sequences of numbers with given starting, ending, and increment values.
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About MariaDB Connector/J
MariaDB Connector/J is a Type 4 JDBC Driver used to connect Java applications to MariaDB and MySQL Databases using the standard JDBC API that is available in Java. It is a library licensed under LGPL and is specifically designed as a lightweight JDBC Connector for use with MariaDB and MySQL Databases. The connector was originally based on the Drizzle JDBC library, however, it took many changes and numerous bug fixes over the years to develop the MariaDB Java Driver.
JDBC is the abbreviation for Java Database Connectivity, and it is an Application Programming Interface (API) and software component that enables Java applications to interact with Databases. JDBC allows users to write a single application that can send SQL statements to various Data Sources, hence, you don’t need to write separate applications to access different Databases. MariaDB Java Connector is compatible with all MariaDB and MySQL Server versions 5.5.3 and later.
The 4 types of JDBC Drivers are mentioned below.
- Type 1 − JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver
- Type 2 − JDBC-Native API
- Type 3 − JDBC-Net pure Java
- Type 4 − 100% Pure Java
Using the MariaDB Java Connector
This section will help you get started with MariaDB Connector/J. Before starting, you need to install the Connector/J. Follow the below-mentioned steps to get moving.
Installing MariaDB Java Connector
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MariaDB Connector/J can be downloaded and installed using package managers such as Maven and Gradle. You can also install it manually by downloading and setting the .jar file in your CLASSPATH. You can refer to the official Installation Guide for a detailed setup.
Maven Installation
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To install MariaDB Connector/J using Maven, you can simply add a dependency to the pom.xml configuration file of your project. You can add a <dependency> tag for <groupId> with org.mariadb.jdbc and for <artificatId> with mariadb-java-client as shown below.
<dependency>
<groupId>org.mariadb.jdbc</groupId>
<artifactId>mariadb-java-client</artifactId>
<version>version number</version>
</dependency>
Make sure to replace the version number with a valid version of MariaDB Java Driver that you wish to install.
Gradle Installation
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To install MariaDB Connector/J using Gradle, you can simply add a dependency to your build.gradle configuration file.
implementation ‘org.mariadb.jdbc:mariadb-java-client:version’
Make sure to replace the version with a valid version of MariaDB Java Driver that you wish to install.
JAR File Installation
You can also install the MariaDB Java Connector manually by downloading and setting the .jar file (https://downloads.mariadb.org/connector-java/) in the CLASSPATH of your directory.
Connecting MariaDB Java Connector
You can get a connection via the 2 standard available ways.
Using DriverManager
Using the DriverManager class is the recommended way of getting a connection with MariaDB Connector/J. The DriverManager is used to locate and automatically load Java MariaDB Connector, and it doesn’t require any further configuration. The connector can be used in the same way as any other JDBC Driver. You can establish the connection with the following statement.
Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:mariadb://localhost:3306/DB?user=root&password=SamplePassword");
Using a Pool
Another way of getting a connection with MariaDB Connector/J is by using a connection pool. You can make use of the 2 available Data Source pools provided by MariaDB Java Connector.
- MariaDbDataSource: This is the basic implementation of a connection pool that creates a new connection every time you call the getConnection() method.
- MariaDbPoolDataSource: This connection pool implementation maintains a pool of connections, and it borrows the connection from the pool whenever a new connection request comes up.
Connection Strings
The structure and syntax of the JDBC Connection String are as shown.
jdbc:(mysql|mariadb):[replication:|loadbalance:|sequential:|aurora:]//<hostDescription>[,<hostDescription>...]/[database][?<key1>=<value1>[&<key2>=<value2>]]
The host must be a DNS name or IP address, and the type of the host can either be slave or master. The HostDescription is as shown.
<host>[:<portnumber>] or address=(host=<host>)[(port=<portnumber>)][(type=(master|slave))]
An IPv6 address host must be inside square brackets. The default port number is 3306, and the default type is master. Below are a few examples for better understanding.
- samplehost.com:3306
- address=(host=samplehost)(port=3306)(type=master)
Preparing MariaDB Java Connector
MariaDB Connector/J makes use of prepared statements to interact with the database. Text protocol will be used by the driver only if the values of rewriteBatchedStatements and allowMultiQueries are set to true. The parameter substitution of the prepared statement is carried out on the client side.
Follow the below-mentioned steps to prepare the MariaDB Java Connector on the Windows platform.
- The environment variables in your CLASSPATH should contain the proper location of the .jar file involving all its directory structures. For example, if your .jar file is located in the C Drive, C:UserExampleMariaDBMariaDBJavaConnector/MariaDB-java-client-1.2.2.jar, then you can execute the following command in the command line.
CLASSPATH = C:UserExampleMariaDBMariaDBJavaConnector/mariadb-java-client-1.2.2.jar
- The JAVA_HOME and JDK_HOME Java run time environment variables should also contain the proper location. For example, if the Java runtime environment is located in the C Drive, C:UserExamplejavajre7, then you can execute the following command in the command line.
JAVA_HOME = C:UserExamplejavajre7
- You can now restart your MariaDB or MySQL Database Server to get started.
Conclusion
MariaDB and MySQL are highly popular and widely used open-source Databases. MariaDB Java Connector is a Type 4 JDBC Driver used to establish a connection between the MariaDB Database and Java applications. JDBC Driver is a widely used software component when it comes to building enterprise solutions. This article introduced you to MariaDB and later helped you work with MariaDB Java Connector.
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Share your experience of working with MariaDB Java Connector in the comments section below.