Weighing in at just over 100 pages, this text bucks the trend in today's computing titles in terms of size and focus. Instead of trying to cover everything about Java, this text zeros in on essential JDBC concepts and APIs. An experienced teacher, the author presents his own "framework" for connecting to databases in Java. Short, essential examples and compact explanation are the rule here.
From the basics of querying and updating databases to more advanced techniques like using prepared statements, updated result sets, and batch updates, the author's choice of examples is dead-on. Even experienced Java programmers can use this text as a reference to crucial advanced techniques. Standout material here includes using the Swing JTable table control to present multiple records, and a quick tour of servlet APIs. The book closes with a "case study" for an online video store combining the techniques presented early on.
With an extremely compact format and a no-frills approach to essential JDBC APIs and techniques, this text will serve as a reference and tutorial that can get you started with JDBC perhaps more quickly than any other available title. It's particularly well suited to those programmers who want to learn by example. Though small in size, it manages to cover several advanced features of JDBC that would require a lot of digging in a traditional Java tutorial. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Introduction and overview of JDBC; review of CGI and Java alternatives; basic database tables; JDBC connections and statements; using Swing JTables to present information; JDBC ResultSets; database queries (including prepared and callable statements); action queries and updates; batch updates and writeable ResultSets; types of JDBC drivers; metadata; programming BLOB fields; case study for a database using servlets for an online video store; sample code; essential JDBC APIs; and introduction of the JDBC 3.0 standard.