Connecting to a database using JDBC

In this recipe, you will learn how to connect to a database.

How to do it...

1. Select the database you would like to work with. There are good commercial databases and good open source databases. The only thing we are going to assume is that the database of your choice supports Structured Query Language (SQL), which is a standardized language that allows you to perform CRUD operations on a database. In our recipes, we will use the standard SQL and avoid constructs and procedures specific to a particular database type.
2. If the database is not installed yet, follow the vendor instructions and install it. Then, download the database driver. The most popular ones are of types 4 and 5, written in Java. They are very efficient and talk to the database server through a socket connection. If a .jar file with such a driver is placed on the classpath, it is loaded automatically. Type 4 and 5 drivers are database specific because they use a database native protocol for...