Using Java with Oracle Database

2 Using Java with Oracle Database

The Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) standard is used by Java applications to access and manipulate data in relational databases.

JDBC is an industry-standard application programming interface (API) that lets you access a RDBMS using SQL from Java. JDBC complies with the Entry Level of the JDBC escape standard. Each vendor implements the JDBC Specification with its own extensions.

Universal Connection Pool (UCP) is a connection pool used to cache the database connection objects to reuse the connections, thus improving the performance.

Java in the Database (OJVM) helps group SQL operations with Java data logic and load them into the database for in-place processing.

2.1 Java Database Connectivity Driver (JDBC)

JDBC is a database access protocol that enables you to connect to a database and run SQL statement and queries on the database. JDBC drivers implement and comply with the latest JDBC specifications. Java application need to have ojdbc8.jar compatible with JDK8 in their classpath.

The core Java class libraries provide the JDBC APIs, java.sql and javax.sql

The following sections describe Oracle support for the JDBC standard:

Oracle JDBC Thin Driver
Oracle JDBC Packages

Oracle JDBC Thin Driver

Oracle recommends using the JDBC Thin Driver for most requirements. The JDBC Thin Driver will work on any system with a suitable Java Virtual Machine. (JVM). Some other client drivers that Oracle provides are JDBC thin driver, Oracle Call Interface (OCI) driver, Server side thin driver, and server side internal driver.

The JDBC Thin Driver is a pure Java, Type IV driver. The JDBC driver version )ojdbc8.jar) inludes support for JDK 8.

JDBC Thin Driver communicates with the server using SQL*Net to access the database.

2.2 Universal Connection Pool

Connection pools help improve performance by reusing connection objects and reducing the number of times that connection objects are created.

Oracle Universal Connection Pool (UCP) is a feature rich Java connection pool that provides connection pool functionalities, along with high availability, scalability and load balancing with the help of tighter integration with Oracle Database configurations.

A Java application or container must have ucp.jar in their classpath, along with the ojdbc8.jar (JDK8), to be able to use UCP.

2.3 Java in the Database (OJVM)

Oracle Database has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that resides in the server. It helps Java applications running in the Oracle JVM on the server to access data present on the same system and same process.

Java in the Database is recommended for applications that are data-intensive. JVM has the ability to use the underlying Oracle RDBMS libraries directly, without the use of a network connection between the Java code and SQL data. This helps improve performance and execution. For data access, Oracle Database uses server-side internal driver when Java code runs on the server.