Connect to MAMP MySql with Java JDBC

Probably the easiest way to develop PHP/MYSQL Applications on the Mac is to install MAMP. However, if you then want to add Java capabilities to this there is very little documentation that explains what you need to do. After much digging around its actually rather easy assuming you are using the JDBC connector – this is how.

Allow MYSQL Networking
JDBC connects to mysql via an IP Address rather than a socket so you need to allow for networking in the my.cnf file. If you are using MAMP PRO you can just boot MAMP Admin and go to File > Edit Template > my.cnf before finding the line that says skip_networking and just uncomment it. Normal MAMP requires a bit more work and this link should help. Restart your Apache/MySql services.

Set Up a Basic Java MySQL Connection
The following is an example java connection function:

private static Connection connect() {
        Connection conn = null;

        try {
            String userName = "EXAMPLE-USER";
            String password = "EXAMPLE-PASSWORD";
            String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/EXAMPLE_DATABASE";

            Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
            conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, userName, password);

            System.out.println("Database connection established");

        } catch (Exception e) {

            System.err.println("Cannot connect to database server");
            e.printStackTrace();

        }
        return conn;

    }

Add the JDBC Library
If you right click on Libraries folder in the Project Window of Netbeans you should see an option to Add Library. Click this and scroll down until you find MySql JDBC. Select it and Bob is your uncle. Everything should run just Dandy now.