JDBC

 

  •        JDBC stands for Java Database Connectivity. It is a step by step procedure to communicate with the database from the Java application in order to perform database operation. Basically, JDBC is an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes it possible to standardize and simplify the process of connecting Java applications to a database.

  •       DBC is considered to be a part of Java platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) uses the Structured Query Languages (SQL) for performing different database queries like access, storage, update or delete.

  •      Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) supports Structured Query Language (SQL). Since Java is a platform independent programming language which runs on most platforms, JDBC helps to write a single database application which can run on different platforms and interact with different Database Management Systems.

Architecture of JDBC

 



 Figure- Architecture of JDBC

·       JDBC Driver

JDBC Driver is a software component that enables java application to interact with the database. There are 4 types of JDBC drivers:

1.      JDBC-ODBC bridge driver

2.      Native-API driver (partially java driver)

3.      Network Protocol driver (fully java driver)

4.      Thin driver (fully java driver)   

  • JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver/Type-1 Driver: There are some databases which provide ODBC driver to connect their databases. Here, ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity. The JDBC-ODBC bridge driver converts JDBC method calls into the ODBC function calls. This is now discouraged because of thin driver.

Figure- JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver

A Java application which needs to communicate with a database containing ODBC driver will use JDBC API to communicate with JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver. Here, this JDBC-ODBC bridge driver will communicate with the ODBC driver and then further establish a connection with its specific database.

Advantage: 

·        It helps to easily connect with the database.

Disadvantage: 

·        Performance degraded because JDBC method call is converted into the ODBC function calls.

·        The ODBC driver needs to be installed on the client machine.

  •        Native-API driver/Type-2 Driver: Some database vendors provide only Native APIs, written in C/C++ programming languages, in order to access their database.

    A Java application which wants to communicate with such databases which provide only Native APIs uses Native API driver to establish a communication. Java application is programmed using JDBC API, makes JDBC calls. Then, these JDBC calls are converted into database specific native calls using Native-API driver. Further, these native calls are passed over to database specific native library which communicates with the database


Figure- Native-API driver


   Advantage: 1) Performance is upgraded compared to JDBC-OBDC/Type          1 driver.

 Disadvantage: 2) Need to install Native API driver on each of the client machine.

·       Network Protocol driver

     The Network Protocol driver uses middleware (application server) that converts JDBC calls directly or indirectly into the vendor-specific database protocol. It is fully written in java


   

Advantage:

  • No client side library is required because of application server that can perform many tasks like auditing, load balancing, logging etc.

Disadvantages:

  • Network support is required on client machine.
  • Requires database-specific coding to be done in the middle tier.
  • Maintenance of Network Protocol driver becomes costly because it requires database-specific coding to be done in the middle tier.

·             Thin Driver :-

       The thin driver converts JDBC calls directly into the vendor-specific database protocol. That is why it is known as thin driver. It is fully written in Java language


Advantage:

  • Better performance than all other drivers.
  • No software is required at client side or server side.

Disadvantage:

  • Drivers depend on the Database.

  • Need of JDBC:-
 It is important to understand why we need Java Database Connectivity . Java application are required

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