Database Programming With Jdbc and Java

by George Reese

The Java Database Connectivity classes (JDBC) sensibly provide an interface between a platform-independent programming language (Java) and a standardized database language (Structured Query Language, or SQL). Pretty much every Java program that's 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 unitized 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, emphasizing the most commonly used ones (such as those that perform INSERT and SELECT operations), but giving also 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 optimizations for the real world. A menagerie of specialized 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 it's short. In sum, this slim volume is a great introduction to JDBC for those who are looking to approach Java distributed applications by way of database work. Punk music fans, however, will object to the misidentification of the Sex Pistols' classic album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols . It's actually Never Mind the Bullocks, Here Come the Sex Pistols . Rotten fact-checking, obviously. --David Wall Topics The Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) classes, with emphasis on how JDBC code fits into distributed applications (so-called enterprise applications) that use Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) and Remote Method Invocation (RMI). Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI), serialization, persistence, security, and (especially) application design receive plenty of attention. Fully a quarter of this book is a reference (including statements of syntax and brief descriptions) to the JDBC Core API and the JDBC Optional Package classes.

Genres: Technical, Reference

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off, be warned that this book was grossly mis-titled. If you're a beginner hoping to learn about JDBC and Java, look elsewhere. If you're interested in getting an overview on more advanced topics related to database design and other not-so-related topics, then you may want to add one star.

I read this book for final year project hoping to learn more about using JDBC to access databases for my project. The preface claimed that basic knowledge of Java and SQL was enough. Did the book cover JDBC? Yes, in about 3 short chapters from basic to advanced to optional. For someone who don't know JDBC, those three chapters will not give you more than hints of what can be done.

The rest of the book? It touches advanced topics like RMI, JNDI, EJB, a bit on design patterns, distributed architecture, persistence, and even, strangely, Swing; apparently in an attempt to show how JDBC is used in the real world. As a student, reading those chapters is like reading a chemistry book. None of those chapters attempt to explain things in a big picture, but instead dives straight into the advanced topics as if the reader is expected to know the basics.

It's a book that's badly advertised and expects the reader to know very much about the topics being discussed, but doesn't actually say that the reader should.