Getting Started with Spring Boot and PostgreSQL: A Beginner-Friendly Guide

Spring Boot is one of the most popular frameworks for building backend applications, and PostgreSQL is a powerful relational database that pairs well with it. In this guide, we’ll walk through setting up a Spring Boot application with PostgreSQL, so you can get started with database-backed web applications.

Why Choose Spring Boot and PostgreSQL?
Spring Boot simplifies the setup of Java applications by handling configurations and dependencies, while PostgreSQL provides scalability, security, and advanced SQL features. Together, they form a solid backend foundation for modern applications.

️ Prerequisites
Before we begin, ensure you have the following installed:
Java 17 (or Java 11)
Spring Boot (Spring Initializr)
PostgreSQL Database
Postman (for API testing)

Step 1: Create a Spring Boot Project
We’ll use Spring Initializr to generate a Spring Boot project.

1️⃣ Go to start.spring.io and select:

Project: Maven
Language: Java
Spring Boot Version: 3.x (or the latest)
Dependencies: Spring Web, Spring Data JPA, PostgreSQL Driver

2️⃣ Click “Generate“, extract the ZIP file, and open it in IntelliJ IDEA or VS Code.

Step 2: Configure PostgreSQL in application.properties
Update your src/main/resources/application.properties file with the PostgreSQL database details:
spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
spring.datasource.username=postgres
spring.datasource.password=yourpassword
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
spring.jpa.show-sql=true

Make sure PostgreSQL is running, and you’ve created a database named mydb.

Step 3: Create an Entity and Repository
Define a simple User entity in User.java:
import jakarta.persistence.*;
@Entity
@Table(name = "users")
public class User {
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
private Long id;
private String name;
private String email;
// Getters and Setters
}

Now, create a JPA repository in UserRepository.java:
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
public interface UserRepository extends JpaRepository<User, Long> {
}


Step 4: Build a Simple REST API
Create a controller in UserController.java to handle HTTP requests:
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.*;
import java.util.List;
@RestController
@RequestMapping("/users")
public class UserController {
@Autowired
private UserRepository userRepository;
@PostMapping
public User createUser(@RequestBody User user) {
return userRepository.save(user);
}
@GetMapping
public List<User> getUsers() {
return userRepository.findAll();
}
}


Step 5: Run the Application and Test API
Start your Spring Boot application by running:
mvn spring-boot:run

Now, test the endpoints using Postman or curl:

Create a user

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/users -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Alice","email":"alice@example.com"}'

Get all users

curl -X GET http://localhost:8080/users

Conclusion
You’ve successfully built a Spring Boot application with PostgreSQL! Now you can expand this project by adding pagination, validation, authentication, and more.

If you found this guide helpful, drop a comment and let me know what you’d like to learn next!

Further Reading:
Spring Boot Official Docs
PostgreSQL Docs

原文链接： Getting Started with Spring Boot and PostgreSQL: A Beginner-Friendly Guide