JDBC

Using Java database Connectivity (JDBC)

JDBC is a standard set of classes that permits application developers to access and manipulate relational databases from within Java programs.  Java database Connectivity supports SQL 92 syntax and permit vendors to give extensions to improve performance.

JDBC Drivers provided by Oracle

Oracle gives two types of JDBC drivers that you can use for different categories of applications.

This JDBC driver Written completely in Java and this is ideal for java applets which can be used with a browser.  A thin driver is only 300 kb and can be downloaded. When the applet is fired then the thin driver establishes a direct Net8 connection among the applet and the Oracle database. The Scalability is achieved through the use of the Net8 Connection Manager that should reside on the similar host as the Web server. The Connection Manager multiplexes various inbound physical connections onto a single database connection, thus saving server memory.

JBBC / OCI   driver - This gives OCI calls to access the database, by using Oracle client libraries like as CORE, OCILIB, and Net8. These are written in C, so the driver is not downloadable. You must perform client installation of the JDBC or OCI driver. It can be used for client / server Java applications in addition to middle-tier Java applications running in a Java application server.

Both JBBC / OCI drivers are JDBC complaint and support Oracle-specific features:

•    Both drivers support for Oracle7 and Oracle8 object-related data types
•    Both drivers support for manipulating LOB data
•    Performance enhancement features like as array interface, prefetching and batch SQL statement execution.
•    Both drivers Access to PL/SQL and Java stores procedures.
•    Both drivers support for all Oracle character sets.