Standard Extension Features

The package javax.sql is a standard extension to the Java programming language. As of this writing, the specification is not yet final, but we can outline the basic functionality that it will provide. These are the features in the JDBC 2.0 standard extension:

Rowsets

A rowset encapsulates a set of rows from a result set and may maintain an open database connection or be disconnected from the data source. A rowset is a JavaBeans tm component; it can be created at design time and used in conjunction with other JavaBeans components in a visual JavaBeans builder tool to construct an application.

JNDI tm for Naming Databases

The Java tm Naming and Directory Interface tm (JNDI) makes it possible to connect to a database using a logical name instead of having to hard code a particular database and driver. **xref to jndi tutorial**

Connection Pooling

A connection pool is a cache of open connections that can be used and reused, thus cutting down on the overhead of creating and destroying database connections.

Distributed Transaction Support

Support for distributed transactions allows a JDBC driver to support the standard two-phase commit protocol used by the Java Transaction API (JTA). This feature facilitates using JDBC functionality in Enterprise JavaBeans components.

New Features in the JDBC 2.0 API