What are the JDBC API components?

The java.sql package contains following interfaces and classes for JDBC API.

Interfaces :

* Connection : The Connection object is created by using getConnection() method of DriverManager class. DriverManager is the factory for connection.

* Statement : The Statement object is created by using createStatement() method of Connection class. The Connection interface is the factory for Statement.

* PreparedStatement : The PrepareStatement object is created by using prepareStatement() method of Connection class. It is used to execute the parameterized query.

* ResultSet : The object of ResultSet maintains a cursor pointing to a row of a table. Initially, cursor points before the first row. The executeQuery() method of Statement interface returns the ResultSet object.

* ResultSetMetaData : The object of ResultSetMetaData interface cotains the information about the data (table) such as numer of columns, column name, column type, etc. The getMetaData() method of ResultSet returns the object of ResultSetMetaData.

* DatabaseMetaData : DatabaseMetaData interface provides methods to get metadata of a database such as the database product name, database product version, driver name, name of the total number of tables, the name of the total number of views, etc. The getMetaData() method of Connection interface returns the object of DatabaseMetaData.

* CallableStatement : CallableStatement interface is used to call the stored procedures and functions. We can have business logic on the database through the use of stored procedures and functions that will make the performance better because these are precompiled. The prepareCall() method of Connection interface returns the instance of CallableStatement.

Classes :

* DriverManager : The DriverManager class acts as an interface between the user and drivers. It keeps track of the drivers that are available and handles establishing a connection between a database and the appropriate driver. It contains several methods to keep the interaction between the user and drivers.

* Blob : Blob stands for the binary large object. It represents a collection of binary data stored as a single entity in the database management system.

* Clob : Clob stands for Character large object. It is a data type that is used by various database management systems to store character files. It is similar to Blob except for the difference that BLOB represent binary data such as images, audio and video files, etc. whereas Clob represents character stream data such as character files, etc.

SQLException It is an Exception class which provides information on database access errors.