A JDBC driver is a software component enabling a Java application to interact with a database. JDBC drivers are analogous to ODBC drivers, ADO.NET data providers, and OLE DB providers.
A JDBC driver is a software component enabling a Java application to interact with a database. JDBC drivers are analogous to ODBC drivers, ADO.NET data providers, and OLE DB providers.
To connect with individual databases, JDBC (the Java Database Connectivity API) requires drivers for each database. The JDBC driver gives out the connection to the database and implements the protocol for transferring the query and result between client and database.
The JDBC type 1 driver, also known as the JDBC-ODBC bridge, is a database driver implementation that employs the ODBC driver to connect to the database. The driver converts JDBC method calls into ODBC function calls.
The driver is platform-dependent as it makes use of ODBC which in turn depends on native libraries of the underlying operating system the JVM is running upon. Also, use of this driver leads to other installation dependencies; for example, ODBC must be installed on the computer having the driver and the database must support an ODBC driver. The use of this driver is discouraged if the alternative of a pure-Java driver is available. The other implication is that any application using a type 1 driver is non-portable given the binding between the driver and platform. This technology isn't suitable for a high-transaction environment. Type 1 drivers also don't support the complete Java command set and are limited by the functionality of the ODBC driver.
Sun provides a JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver: sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver. This driver is native code and not Java, and is closed source.
Functions
- Translates a query by JDBC into a corresponding ODBC query, which is then handled by the ODBC driver.
Advantages
Almost any database for which ODBC driver is installed, can be accessed.
Disadvantages
- Performance overhead since the calls have to go through the jdbc Overhead bridge to the ODBC driver, then to the native db connectivity interface (thus may be slower than other types of drivers).
- The ODBC driver needs to be installed on the client machine.
- Not suitable for applets, because the ODBC driver needs to be installed on the client.