Get started with JDBC

The Java™ Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver shipped with the Developer Kit for Java is called the Developer Kit for Java JDBC driver. This driver is also commonly known as the native JDBC driver.

To select which JDBC driver suits your needs, consider the following suggestions:

• Programs running directly on a server where the database resides should use the native JDBC driver for performance. This includes most servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) solutions, and applications written to run locally on an iSeries™ server.
• Programs that must connect to a remote iSeries server use the IBM^® Toolbox for Java JDBC driver. The IBM Toolbox for Java JDBC driver is a robust implementation of JDBC and is provided as part of IBM Toolbox for Java. Being pure Java, the IBM Toolbox for Java JDBC driver is trivial to set up for clients and requires little server setup.
• Programs that run on an iSeries server and need to connect to a remote, non-iSeries database use the native JDBC driver and set up a Distributed Relational Database Architecture™ (DRDA^®) connection to that remote server.

To get started with JDBC, see the following:

Types of JDBC drivers This topic defines the JDBC driver types. Driver types are defined to categorize the technology used to connect to the database.

Requirements This topic indicates the requirements you need to access the following:

• Core JDBC
• JDBC 2.0 optional package
• Java Transaction API (JTA)

JDBC tutorial This is an important first step towards writing a JDBC program and having it run on an iSeries server with the native JDBC driver.

• Types of JDBC drivers
  This topic defines the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver types. Driver types are used to categorize the technology used to connect to the database. A JDBC driver vendor uses these types to describe how their product operates. Some JDBC driver types are better suited for some applications than others.
• JDBC requirements
  Before you write and deploy your JDBC applications, you may need to include specific jar files in your classpath.
• JDBC tutorial
  The following is a tutorial on writing a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) program and having it run on the an iSeries server with the native JDBC driver. It is designed to show you the basic steps required for your program to run JDBC.
• Use JNDI for the examples
  DataSources work hand-in-hand with the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). JNDI is a Java abstraction layer for directory services just as Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is an abstraction layer for databases.