How to Add PostgreSQL Database as a Maven Dependency

1. What Is Maven
2. Connect PostgreSQL to Maven
3. Add PostgreSQL Driver as a Dependency in Maven
4. 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.

Here are some of the XML tags in a POM XML file.

1. The <version> tag stores the project version.
2. The <dependencies> tag stores all the project dependencies.
3. A <dependency> 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.

<dependency>
	<groupId>postgresql</groupId>
	artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
	<version>VERSION</version>
</dependency>

Under the <dependencies> 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.

<dependency>
	<groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
	artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
	<version>VERSION</version>
</dependency>

Under the <dependencies> tag, add a new tag for the dependency of the PostgreSQL JDBC driver.

Note: There is a slight difference in the definition of the <groupId> 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 <dependency> 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.