Database Programming with JDBC and Java, 2nd Edition - Softcover

George Reese

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565926161 ISBN 13: 9781565926165

Publisher: O′Reilly, 2000

Synopsis

Java and databases make a powerful combination. Getting the two sides to work together, however, takes some effort--largely because Java deals in objects while most databases do not.

This book describes the standard Java interfaces that make portable object-oriented access to relational databases possible and offers a robust model for writing applications that are easy to maintain. It introduces the JDBC and RMI packages and uses them to develop three-tier applications (applications divided into a user interface, an object-oriented logic component, and an information store).

The book begins with a quick overview of SQL for developers who may be asked to handle a database for the first time. It then explains how to issue database queries and updates through SQL and JDBC. It also covers the use of stored procedures and other measures to improve efficiency, where these are available.

But the book's key contribution is a set of patterns that let developers isolate critical tasks like object creation, information storage and retrieval, and the committing or aborting of transactions.

The second edition includes more basics of JDBC and SQL, with more examples, and a deeper discussion about the architecture of a robust, maintainable database application. The second edition also explains the relationship between JDBC and Enterprise JavaBeans.

About this title

Review:

The Java Database Connectivity classes (JDBC) sensibly provide an interface between a platform-independent programming language (Java) and a standardised database language (Structured Query Language, or SQL). Pretty much every Java program that is involved in transactions or other business operations connects to a database through JDBC, so familiarity with the JDBC classes can magnify your other Java skills.

Database Programming with JDBC and Java explains how JDBC fits into unitised software applications in which various functional parts communicate over a network. author George Reese also shows how to write programs that take advantage of the JDBC classes, emphasising the most commonly used ones (such as those that perform INSERT and SELECT operations) but also giving the more obscure classes their due.

This book is essentially an ongoing lecture of increasing complexity. To cite one thread, it begins with clear but academic examples that involve discrete transactions (opening a connection, performing a query and closing the connection). It then moves on to connection pooling and other JDBC-supported optimisations for the real world. A menagerie of specialised sections on such topics as security and persistence rely heavily on long code examples. A section on Swing programming seems kind of out of place, but is short.

In sum, this slim volume is a great introduction to JDBC for those looking to approach Java-distributed applications by way of database work. --David Wall

From the Publisher:

This book describes the standard Java interfaces that make portable object-oriented access to relational databases possible, and offers a robust model for writing applications that are easy to maintain. The second edition has been completely updated for JDBC 2.0, and includes reference listings for JDBC and the most important RMI classes. The book begins with a quick overview of SQL for developers who may be asked to handle a database for the first time, and goes on to explain how to issue database queries and updates through SQL and JDBC.

About this edition

• Publisher: O′Reilly
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1565926161
• ISBN 13: 9781565926165
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 345