The second edition of the
JDBC API Tutorial and Reference provides a worthwhile tour of the new features in Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) 2.0 and serves well as a reference to Sun's new standard for Java database programming.
Once you open this book, it becomes quickly obvious that it is more comprehensive than the first edition. The new edition begins with an overview of the JDBC API, including its architecture and overall design. Beginners will also be pleased with a short breakdown of the Java programming language and SQL basics.
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.
Whether you are approaching JDBC for the very first time or are ramping up from JDBC 1.0, there is perhaps no better source for learning about the enhanced powers of the new JDBC than this `official` guide from Sun. --Richard Dragan
User review
No choice - a must
Of course this is not a tutorial or introduction of any kind. If you are looking to learn about databases or Java or SQL, look elsewhere. But come back when you are ready to do work!
There are many fine points to JDBC. Sure, the simple stuff is simple, but if you are looking for high reliability or high performance or both, you need to have a thorough understanding of your tools.
You won't find a better book if you are looking to find out exactly how JDBC is supposed to behave.
This book is written by the authors of the JDBC specification. For all intents and purposes, this book IS the JDBC specification.
On my job we treat this book as the JDBC specification. There are a couple of typos here and there, but it does indeed contain a complete description of every JDBC feature.
You will also need an equivalent SQL book to complement this one, because this book is ONLY about JDBC, not SQL. You will also have to reference the ODBC specification at times for some of the more arcane transaction semantics and such. Of course, any real database application is going to involve threads, and there is virtually no discussion of threads in this book, either. This book's singular focus on JDBC is what makes it what it is.
Like most Java books, it is overdue for an upgrade.
User review
A Must For Your Bookshelf!
What can I say,,. if you do JDBC programming, you must have this book in your bookshelf. Great examples and super coverage of a very wide topic. You'll read it and continue to look back at it. Well worth the money!
User review
an exceptionally comprehensive volume
JDBC is one of the most mature and widely used Java APIs. Even after the arrival of more recent tools and technologies like EJB's CMP and JDO, JDBC still remains a simple, fast, and reliable way of storing objects' state in an RDBMS. While conceptually this technology is quite straightforward, its evolution has made it more complex and voluminous. Many books have been trying to explain the main aspects of it over and over again, but the 3rd edition of `JDBC API Tutorial and Reference` goes far beyond that.
The book is divided into two major sections: the Tutorial and the Reference. Actually, there are four tutorials in the Part One: Basic, Advanced, MetaData, and Rowset. Here well-written explanations are followed by clear and detailed examples.
It is remarkable that Part Two, The Reference, is not your typical API reference with simply method signatures or redundant explanations of their arguments. This is an extremely well thought through description of how to use JDBC 3.0 API to achieve a particular goal. Every class has a solid overview, examples, schemas -- everything one needs to get the job done. The book also contains an Appendix for JDBC driver developers and another Appendix covering JDBC 3.0 API changes.
This book provides the most clear and comprehensive JDBC coverage that I have ever seen. It is not just a matter of its size of over 1200 pages, but although the result of a well designed book structure and clear delivery.
User review
Mature and stable
Almost all practical commercial deployments of Java involve hooking to a back end database. Of the latter, relational databases are the dominant form. The first version of JDBC arose soon after Java was released, because of this compelling need. Since then, Sun has extended the functionality while still striving to keep its learning curve shallow, as compared to Microsoft's ODBC. Indeed, the latest Java 1.4 Standard Edition includes JDBC 3.0 in its entirety.
To document JDBC 3.0, Sun has put out the third edition of this book. The maturity of JDBC is reflected in its heft. The reference portion is voluminous. The tutorial section is like aged whisky; it goes down smoothly. Sun has had plenty of time to sandpaper rough edges and, based on user feedback, to add popularly requested capabilities.
The attraction of this book is that it describes a mature and stable product. In corporate terms, it is safe and conservative. In other words, you can develop with JDBC according to the book and be highly confident of success. At least insofar as your Java GUI conversing with the database. (The design of a GUI or a database is outside the purview of the book.)
User review
The only JDBC book you will need
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced JDBC programmer you will find useful information in this book. The book is divided into two sections. The first section is a tutorial on using JDBC which makes up four chapters. The tutorial starts with a look at JDBC 1.0. The next chapter looks at the additional features added to JDBC in 2.0 and 3.0. The third tutorial chapter looks at metadata. The final chapter examines the RowSet interface, which is complex enough to need its own chapter.
The remainder of the book (about 800 pages) is a reference containing a chapter for each class or interface in JDBC. Each chapter contains an overview of a class or interface, sections on anything of either special interest or complexity, and then a list of all the methods of the class or interface with complete descriptions. If a section applies to a particular version of JDBC, the version it applies to is clearly marked. The information contained in the reference is much more than you can find in the APIs. The reference section itself is well laid out to make the information you need easy to find.
This is probably the only JDBC book you will ever need. No matter which version of JDBC your database drivers support, you will find your answers in this book. The book is well written with clear explanations and plenty of code samples (which can be downloaded from the Sun web site) . Anyone working with JDBC will want this book by their side while they are coding.
