Save a Java Object to a Database

Now that you've seen how to connect to and interact with 0:00 a database in Java using JDBC, we're ready to take it to the next level. 0:03 If we're writing a contact manager application, 0:07 one of the obvious objects we'd want to work with would be a contact object. 0:10 We can write a POJO. 0:16 Remember, that's plain old Java object. 0:17 That models a contact by creating a class that includes an instance field for 0:19 each of the database columns we define. 0:23 Then, when we have a new contact object, 0:27 we should be able to simply save it to the database. 0:29 Let's write a first draft of what that might look like. 0:32 What I'd like to do here is write a save method that allows us to quickly save 0:36 a contact to the database without having to continually rewrite the SQL to do so. 0:40 Let's get this started at the bottom. 0:45 So I'll start by entering a method stub here, public static void. 0:48 I'll call it save. 0:51 And I'd like to save a cCntact object so I'll include that as a parameter. 0:52 And let me drop a couple comments in here. 0:57 The things that we'd like to do. 0:59 So we'll start by composing the query, and then we will execute the query. 1:01 Let's begin composing the query by using a String variable, I'll name it sql. 1:08 And this variable will hold the general syntax for an insert statement. 1:13 We wanna insert it into the contacts table. 1:17 We'll list our column names, and 1:19 then we'll list the actual values that we'd like to insert. 1:21 So my column names here are firstname, lastname, email, and phone. 1:24 And what I wanna do is stick placeholders in here where I can put the actual 1:31 values from my contact object for the values of the insert statement. 1:36 But, so that I don't forget the single quotes that surround a string value in 1:41 SQL, I'm gonna stick those in right now. 1:45 The first three columns are string columns. 1:48 So for our first name we'll have a string placeholder. 1:52 Same for last name and email. 1:55 And for the phone we'll have a numeric placeholder. 1:59 Now, let's take the actual values of the Contact object's fields 2:02 into this string using String.format. 2:07 And I will place or assign that value right back to the SQL variable. 2:09 So I'll use string String.format. 2:14 The sql variable holds my general format, and 2:16 then into the placeholders I will place the values contact.getFirstName(), 2:19 contact.getLastName(), contact.getEmail() and 2:28 contact.getPhone. 2:36 If you wanna verify that those getters actually exist are are in 2:39 alignment with the Contact class, go ahead and 2:43 click on Contact.java to verify that that is indeed the case. 2:46 In order to execute this update using statement.executeUpdate, 2:50 we'll need that statement object. 2:54 Let's include it as a parameter after the Contact object. 2:56 And I will just call this Statement. 3:00 So under execute the query, I can now call statement.executeUpdate. 3:03 And pass it the value of the sql variable, 3:09 which will hold our fully formatted insert statement, 3:12 including the values that have been placed into these placeholders. 3:16 Just one more issue with this method. 3:22 The statement.executeUpdate method is declared as throwing a SQL Exception. 3:24 So, either we'll need a try catch block right here, 3:29 which catches the SQL exception. 3:32 Or, we'll have to declare this save method as throwing the SQL exception, 3:34 which means that the caller of this method will have to handle this. 3:39 We'll choose this ladder approach, 3:43 since the caller of this method will be the main method up above. 3:45 And up here in the main method we already have a try catch that handles 3:49 the SQL exception. 3:53 So let's add that throws clause right here. 3:55 Throws, SQLException. 3:58 Speaking of that main method, let's return to that main method and replace these two 4:02 insert statements with calls to our newly coded save method. 4:08 So the first I'll need to do is create a Contact object 4:13 with all the same information that's included in this first insert statement. 4:17 So the order of this, and again, 4:21 you can verify this in contact.java is first name, 4:25 last name, email, and phone. 4:32 I'm gonna just copy and paste this. 4:37 But this is a long value, so I won't forget to append the L there so 4:39 the JVM knows to consider it a long. 4:43 Now, I'm ready to call our newly coded save method. 4:47 So I'll save this contact using the statement object that I constructed above. 4:51 And we'll repeat all that for James Gosling as well. 4:57 We'll add him right here, James Gosling. 5:03 James@java.com. 5:10 And I'll use this phone number, without forgetting the L. 5:13 Now I should be able to delete these two calls to the executeUpdate method. 5:19 Let's compile and run our code to see if we get the same results. 5:25 javac JdbcMain.java. 5:30 Looks like all compiles well. 5:34 So, let's run it specifying the class path that includes both the jar file and 5:36 the current directory. 5:41 Awesome! 5:46 Same result as before. 5:47 We've now abstracted away the actual SQL for insert statements. 5:49 So up above, instead of crafting the actual SQL statements, 5:53 we can simply call our save method and it takes care of the details for us. 5:57 Hey, great job! 6:03 You've now used Java to connect to and interact with a database. 6:05 In addition, you've taken your first step toward allowing the saving of POJOs. 6:09 It's nice to be able to call a save method with your POJO instead of having to craft 6:14 and re-craft SQL statements with every database change. 6:18 You're well on your way to discovering the next level of data management 6:22 using application code. 6:25