Overview of Java database applications

The Java data application

A database application is any application that accesses stored data and allows you to view and perhaps update it. In most cases, the data is stored in a database. However, data can also be stored in files as text, or in some other format. JBuilder allows you to access this information and manipulate it using properties, methods, and events defined in the dataSet package of the JavaBeans Component Library (JBCL).

Note: While all versions of JBuilder provide direct access to SQL data through the JavaSoft JDBC API, some versions of JBuilder provide additional DataExpress components that greatly simplify RAD visual development of database applications. These DataExpress components are used throughout this book. Refer to the JBuilder product page from the Borland Web site at http://www.borland.com for availability of features in each JBuilder version.

A database application that requests information from a data source such as a database is known as a client application. A DBMS (Database Management System) that handles data requests from various clients is known as a server application.

JBuilder's DataExpress database support is focused on building all-Java client/server applications and applets for the inter- or intranet. For a detailed white paper on the DataExpress architecture, visit the JBuilder page (http://www.borland.com/jbuilder/) of the Borland Web site. Because applications you build in JBuilder are all-Java at runtime, they are cross-platform.

JBuilder applications communicate with database servers through the JDBC API, the JavaSoft (tm) database connectivity specification. JDBC is the all-Java industry standard API for accessing and manipulating database data. JBuilder database applications can connect to any database that has a JDBC driver.

The following diagram illustrates a typical database application and the layers from the client JBuilder DataExpress database application to the data source: