Handling Schema Generation with Derby and Spring Boot

September 24, 2025

#1

This guide shows how to handle schema generation in Spring Boot with Apache Derby using JPA and Hibernate configuration options.

1. Add Dependencies

In pom.xml:

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
  <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
  <scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
</dependency>

2. Configure Schema Generation

In application.properties:

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:derby:memory:demoDB;create=true
spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver
spring.jpa.show-sql=true
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update

Options for spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto:

• create → generates schema each startup
• update → updates schema without dropping data
• create-drop → creates schema and drops it when app stops
• none → no automatic schema changes

3. Create Entity

import jakarta.persistence.*;

@Entity
public class Product {
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
    private Long id;
    private String name;
    private double price;

    // getters and setters
}

When you run the app, Hibernate generates the PRODUCT table in Derby.

4. Repository

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

public interface ProductRepository extends JpaRepository<Product, Long> {
}

5. REST Controller

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

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/products")
public class ProductController {
    private final ProductRepository repo;

    public ProductController(ProductRepository repo) {
        this.repo = repo;
    }

    @PostMapping
    public Product add(@RequestBody Product p) {
        return repo.save(p);
    }

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

6. Test Schema Generation

Run app:

mvn spring-boot:run

The Product table is created automatically in Derby. Test API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/products -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Book","price":12.5}'
curl http://localhost:8080/products