5.2. Introduction to Plain Old JDBC

Most Java developers have some basic experience with the JDBC. However, some readers may be coming from other languages, such as ActionScript, and may not be familiar with it, so we'll discuss it a bit.

Plain old JDBC allows connecting to a database from within Java. Basically, JDBC is a framework that provides services to the Java developer to write programs that access information stored in databases, spreadsheets, and files. A database that another program links to is called a data source. Many data sources, including products produced by Microsoft and Oracle, already use a standard called Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). Many legacy C and Perl programs use ODBC to connect to data sources. ODBC consolidated much of the commonality of various database management systems, and JDBC builds on this and increases the level of abstraction. JDBC-ODBC bridges have been created to allow Java programs to connect to ODBC-enabled database software.