This section provides a quick answer to the question of 'What is JDBC?'
JDBC is an API (Application Programming Interface)
that provides universal database access for the Java programming language.
JDBC is the trademarked name and is not an acronym.
But JDBC is often thought of as standing for "Java Database Connectivity."
The current version of JDBC API is JDBC 4.0 API implemented in Java SE 6. It includes two packages:
JDBC 4.0 Core API - The java.sql package, which is distributed as part of Java SE 6.
The core API is good enough for normal database applications.
JDBC 4.0 Standard Extension API - The javax.sql package, which is distributed as part of Java Se 6.
The standard extension API, javax.sql, can also be downloaded from http://java.sun.com/products/jdbc.
It is required for applications that uses connection pooling, distributed transactions,
Java Naming and Directory Interfacetm (JNDI), and RowSet API.
The specificatin of JDBC 4.0 API is documented in JSR (Java Specification Request) 221
maintained by JCP (Java Community Process). See JSR 221: JDBC 4.0 API Specification.
In order to use JDBC to connect Java applications to a specific database server,
you need to have a JDBC driver that supports JDBC API for that database server.
For example, Microsoft JDBC Drive allows you to access Microsoft SQL Server through the JDBC API.
