JDBC Version and History

JDBC Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) Introduction

∟JDBC Version and History

This section provides some quick information about JDBC versions and history.

The following table lists JDBC past versions and implementations:

Year   JDBC Version   JSR Specification   JDK Implementation
----   ------------   -----------------   ------------------
2017   JDBC 4.3       JSR 221             Java SE 9
2014   JDBC 4.2       JSR 221             Java SE 8
2011   JDBC 4.1       JSR 221             Java SE 7
2006   JDBC 4.0       JSR 221             Java SE 6
2001   JDBC 3.0       JSR 54              JDK 1.4
1999   JDBC 2.1                           JDK 1.2?
1997   JDBC 1.2                           JDK 1.1?

Main new features introduced in JDBC 4.3 are:

Added support for Sharding
Addition of the java.sql.ConnectionBuilder interface
Addition of the java.sql.ShardigKey interface
Addition of the java.sql.ShardingKeyBuilder interface
Addition of the javax.sql.XAConnectionBuilder interface
Addition of the javax.sql.PooledConnectionBuilder interface

Main new features introduced in JDBC 4.2 are:

Added support for REF CURSOR
Addition of the java.sql.DriverAction interface
Addition of the java.sql.SQLType interface
Addition of the java.sql.JDBCType Enum
Some JDBC API changes

Main new features introduced in JDBC 4.1 are:

Added support for try-with-resource statements
Enhanced Date.valueOf and Timestamp.valueOf
Additional Mappings from Java Object to JDBC Types
Some JDBC API changes

Main new features introduced in JDBC 4.0 are:

Automatic loading of java.sql.Driver
ROWID data type support
National Character Set Conversion Support
SQL/XML and XML Support

Note that JDBC 4.3 API has been implemented in Java SE 9. But JDBC drivers of specific database servers for JDBC 4.3 API may still not available. Since JDBC 4.3 API is backward compatible, there is no problem with using Java SE 9 or higher with JDBC 4.2, 4.1, 4.0 or 3.0 drivers, as long as you do not use the new methods or classes there were introduced in JDBC 4.3 API.