JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) is a Java API used to connect a Java application with an H2 Database and execute SQL statements. In the non-Maven approach, we manually download the H2 Database JDBC driver JAR and include it in the classpath while compiling and running the Java program. H2 provides a JDBC driver that allows Java applications to communicate with H2 databases.

For this example, we will use an embedded H2 database, where the database is stored locally.

Example database:

jdbc_demo

The JDBC URL will be:

jdbc:h2:./jdbc_demo

Step 1: Install and Set Up H2 Database

H2 can be used as an embedded database, so a separate database server is not required for this example.

Download H2 from the official H2 website:

H2 Database – Official Website

For the classpath approach, the most important file is the H2 JDBC driver JAR.

Example:

h2-2.x.x.jar

The exact version depends on the H2 release you download.

Step 2: Download the H2 JDBC Driver

Go to the official H2 download page:

H2 Database Downloads

Download the H2 database package.

After extracting the package, locate the JAR file:

h2-2.x.x.jar

For this example, assume:

h2-2.x.x.jar

This JAR contains the H2 JDBC driver.

Step 3: Create the Project Folder Structure

Create the following folders:

H2JDBC/
│
├── h2-2.x.x.jar
│
├── StudentApp.java

Step 4: Create the Database Table

For an embedded H2 database, we can create the database and table directly from the Java program.

The database URL is:

jdbc:h2:./jdbc_demo

Step 5: Write the JDBC Program

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.Statement;

public class StudentApp {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try {

            // Load H2 JDBC Driver
            Class.forName("org.h2.Driver");

            // Create Connection
            Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(
                "jdbc:h2:./jdbc_demo",
                "sa",
                ""
            );

            // Create Statement
            Statement st = con.createStatement();

            // Create student table
            st.executeUpdate(
                "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS student (" +
                "id INT PRIMARY KEY, " +
                "name VARCHAR(50))"
            );

            // Insert sample data
            st.executeUpdate(
                "MERGE INTO student KEY(id) " +
                "VALUES (1, 'Raja')"
            );

            st.executeUpdate(
                "MERGE INTO student KEY(id) " +
                "VALUES (2, 'Ram')"
            );

            // Execute Query
            ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery(
                "SELECT * FROM student"
            );

            // Display Results
            while (rs.next()) {

                System.out.println(
                    rs.getInt("id") + " " +
                    rs.getString("name")
                );
            }

            // Close Resources
            rs.close();
            st.close();
            con.close();

        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Step 6: Open Command Prompt or PowerShell

Navigate to the project folder.

For example:

cd D:\H2JDBC

Step 7: Compile Using the Classpath

Compile the Java program:

javac -classpath “.;D:\H2JDBC\h2-jdbc.jar” StudentApp.java

Run the program using:

java -classpath “.;D:\H2JDBC\h2-jdbc.jar” StudentApp

Execution and Output:

PS D:\H2JDBC> javac -classpath ".;D:\H2JDBC\h2-jdbc.jar" StudentApp.java
PS D:\H2JDBC> java -classpath ".;D:\H2JDBC\h2-jdbc.jar" StudentApp
1 Raja
2 RamCode language: CSS (css)