JDBC technology is an API that lets you access virtually any tabular data source from the Java programming language. It provides cross-DBMS connectivity to a wide range of SQL databases, and now, with the new JDBC API, it also provides access to other tabular data sources, such as spreadsheets or flat files.
JDBC Books:
JDBC API Tutorial and Reference, Second Edition - Universal Data Access for the Java 2 Platform (Java Series) - Early sections of the book walk through an approachable tutorial of JDBC, concentrating on topics such as connecting to databases, retrieving result sets, manipulating records, and handling database transactions. There's also coverage of using stored procedures, including embedded SQL with SQLJ. The book then turns to new JDBC 2.0 API features, like scrollable cursors, updateable record sets, and batch updates. Experienced readers will appreciate how the authors show off JDBC 1.0 code before presenting these new features. An explanation of SQL3 data types supported in JDBC 2.0 follow the discussion of the API features. The book provides extensive support for finding and understanding recordsets and databases, including the use of the oddly named ResultSetMetaData and DatabaseMetaData classes, which have been greatly enhanced in JDBC 2.0. (You can now write Java code that customizes itself at runtime for almost any SQL platform.) Similar in spirit to the Microsoft OLE DB, the new JDBC 2.0 now supports rowsets, which let programmers work with any tabular data store from within their applications. Most of the book (over 600 pages) functions as a reference containing every JDBC 2.0 class. Presented alphabetically, each class comes with an introductory definition and a complete listing of its constituent members and methods (including deprecated APIs). Final sections include a guide to "SQL to Java" mappings and tips for writing JDBC drivers.
Understanding SQL and Java Together - A Guide to SQLJ, JDBC, and Related Technologies