I am currently using Java to insert and update data multiple times per second. Never having used databases with Java, I am not sure what is required, and how to get the best performance.

I currently have a method for each type of query I need to do (for example, update a row in a database). I also have a method to create the database connection. Below is my simplified code.

    public static void addOneForUserInChannel(String channel, String username) throws SQLException {
    Connection dbConnection = null;
    PreparedStatement ps = null;

    String updateSQL = "UPDATE " + channel + "_count SET messages = messages + 1 WHERE username = ?";

    try {
        dbConnection = getDBConnection();           

        ps = dbConnection.prepareStatement(updateSQL);
        ps.setString(1, username);
        ps.executeUpdate();
    } catch(SQLException e) {
        System.out.println(e.getMessage());
    } finally {
        if(ps != null) {
            ps.close();
        }

        if(dbConnection != null) {
            dbConnection.close();
        }
    }
}

And my DB connection

    private static Connection getDBConnection() {
    Connection dbConnection = null;

    try {
        Class.forName(DB_DRIVER);
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
        System.out.println(e.getMessage());
    }

    try {
        dbConnection = DriverManager.getConnection(DB_CONNECTION, DB_USER,DB_PASSWORD);
        return dbConnection;
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        System.out.println(e.getMessage());
    }

    return dbConnection;
}

This seems to be working fine for now, with about 1-2 queries per second, but I am worried that once I expand and it is running many more, I might have some issues. My questions:

1. Is there a way to have a persistent database connection throughout the entire run time of the process? If so, should I do this?
2. Are there any other optimizations that I should do to help with performance?

Thanks