Java + MySQL: Backend and Frontend Guide

Architecture flow

Setup

Install JDK 17+ and MySQL Server (start MySQL; note username/password).
Install an IDE (IntelliJ/Eclipse/VS Code) and Maven.
Choose: plain Java (JDBC) or Spring Boot (Web + JPA + MySQL).

Database schema

Create a demo_db database and a users table.

SQL

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS demo_db;
USE demo_db;

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  email VARCHAR(150) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Option A: Plain Java (JDBC)

Add MySQL Connector/J. Maven example:

pom.xml dependency

<dependency>
  <groupId>mysql</groupId>
  <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
  <version>8.3.0</version>
</dependency>

Connect and insert/select data:

JdbcDemo.java

import java.sql.*;

public class JdbcDemo {
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/demo_db?useSSL=false&allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true";
    String user = "root";
    String pass = "password";

    try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, pass)) {
      String insert = "INSERT INTO users(name, email) VALUES (?, ?)";
      try (PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(insert, Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS)) {
        ps.setString(1, "Alice");
        ps.setString(2, "alice@example.com");
        ps.executeUpdate();
        try (ResultSet keys = ps.getGeneratedKeys()) {
          if (keys.next()) System.out.println("Inserted id=" + keys.getLong(1));
        }
      }

      try (PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement("SELECT id,name,email,created_at FROM users");
           ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery()) {
        while (rs.next()) {
          System.out.println(rs.getInt("id") + ": " + rs.getString("name") + " <" + rs.getString("email") + ">");
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Spring Boot REST API

pom.xml

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>mysql</groupId>
    <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
    <scope>runtime</scope>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>

application.properties

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/demo_db?useSSL=false&allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true
spring.datasource.username=root
spring.datasource.password=yourpassword
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
spring.jpa.show-sql=true
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL8Dialect

User.java

import jakarta.persistence.*;

@Entity
@Table(name = "users")
public class User {
  @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
  private Long id;
  private String name;
  @Column(unique = true)
  private String email;

  public Long getId() { return id; }
  public void setId(Long id) { this.id = id; }
  public String getName() { return name; }
  public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; }
  public String getEmail() { return email; }
  public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; }
}

UserRepository.java

import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;

public interface UserRepository extends JpaRepository<User, Long> {}

UserController.java

import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.*;
import java.util.List;

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/users")
@CrossOrigin(origins = "*")
public class UserController {
  private final UserRepository repo;
  public UserController(UserRepository repo) { this.repo = repo; }

  @PostMapping
  public User create(@RequestBody User u) { return repo.save(u); }

  @GetMapping
  public List<User> all() { return repo.findAll(); }
}

Frontend form

fetch() example

const form = document.getElementById('demo-form');

form.addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  const body = {
    name: form.name.value.trim(),
    email: form.email.value.trim()
  };
  const res = await fetch('http://localhost:8080/api/users', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify(body)
  });
  const json = await res.json();
  console.log(json);
});

Java + MySQL

What you'll learn

Architecture flow

Setup

Database schema

Option A: Plain Java (JDBC)

Option B: Spring Boot REST API

Frontend form

Resources

Java + Spring

MySQL

Test