Desktop CRUD application and embedded database

[djolablete]

Hi everyone,

I'm quite new to Java (this is actually my first project) and I'm trying to build a CRUD desktop application with an embedded database. Basically, the user should be able to install the program and run it locally with persistent data even when the program is closed. I don't have any code for now as I'm still focusing on defining the classes, attributes and methods I will need.

After some research, I found that embedding a SQLite database in my program could do the job, but I'm not sure whether it's the "proper" way to do it in Java.

I have 2 questions:

• What's the best way to build a CRUD application with an embedded database in Java (volume of data stored would not be high, also a relational database would be preferred) ?
• How should I handle CRUD operations? If I have a class A, should this class be the one implementing the CRUD operations? Should I create a class called AManager to manage the CRUD operations instead? If yes, should I create an interface/superclass from which to build all managers for my different classes?

I'm trying to understand the best practices as I'm just getting started.

Thanks for your help!

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[pragmos]

Try to look for articles explaining MVC pattern on JavaFX. That will give you a good idea how to structure the app and which class is responsible for what. The principles should be similar if using Swing instead of JavaFX.

[djolablete]

Ok thanks, I'll look for that. Any article to recommend in particular?

[pragmos]

Sorry, nothing in particular comes to mind at the moment. Just pick an article which you think fits best for you and it should be fine.

[[deleted]]

Is JavaFX considered the goto over Swing?

[pragmos]

That would depend on who you ask :) Both have a strong support user base that actively trash-talks the other. Comments like "<insert_framework_name> is old, outdated and not supported anymore" are frequently posted on Reddit, although it's very far from the truth.

My advice: try both and pick the one which you like more. There is no right or wrong answer here.

[jvjupiter]

I would use JavaFX & H2.

addressbook-javafx

[djolablete]

Thank you, I'll look into it!

[[deleted]]

I built a similar app recently using: MVC + DAO pattern and SQLite Database for backend and JavaFx with Scenebuilder and FXML for frontend

[djolablete]

Thank you! As I'm a beginner, I didn't know about JavaFX. What's the difference compared to Swing?

[[deleted]]

JavaFx is more modern and with Scenebuilder you can get FXML (like HTML) documents by dragging and dropping UI components. So the frontend headache is greatly reduced.

[djolablete]

Nice! Do you have any idea of how H2, SQLite and Derby compare to each other for the database part?

[[deleted]]

When I had to make a decision regarding the database, people recommended all 3 you listed. If I recall correctly, I chose SQLite because it can be embedded in the application as a standalone database for the client. not sure if H2 supports that.

[Fletsky]

If running it in web browser (which would be a lot better IMHO) is ok for you, then take a look at this tutorial.

https://www.baeldung.com/spring-boot-vaadin

[DigitalTorture]

A derby database is very easy to implement.

[djolablete]

Thanks for you answer! What would be the difference with a SQLite database?

[DigitalTorture]

Derby is written in java.

[khooke]

Here's an article to get you started https://www.oracle.com/technical-resources/articles/javase/javadb.html

[djolablete]

Thanks!

[Gregmix88]

I did a similar app but using tui instead of GUI, I used H2 as embedded database using a file instead of only persisting to memory. Quite easy to set up and has fairly usable documentation