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embedded SQL to the appropriate JDBC calls. This greatly simplifies the development and maintenance of JDBC applications and allows developers with little or no knowledge of the underlying API to develop them.
J/SQL will further extend JDBC to provide new capabilities. In future releases, J/SQL programs stored in the database will be executable from PL/SQL. This will allow developers to write Oracle server extensions in pure Java and to mix PL/SQL and Java code in any layer of an application.
As of this writing, a standard for J/SQL is being developed, and as a joint effort of Oracle and other major vendors , the new standard is likely to be well received. Due to its ease of use, J/SQL might be more widely used than JDBC alone in the near future.
This brief chapter encompassed everything from a simple overview of JDBC to writing your own JDBC driver. Obviously, this is not the whole story. The most important point to remember is that the JDBC API is easy to use, but it is no "magic bullet" of portability or interoperability. Driver architectures and implementations vary greatly, and some are much better than others. The information presented in this chapter is intended to provide enough understanding to determine if JDBC is appropriate for an application, assist in driver selection and deployment strategy, and provide some insight into JDBC application design and the future of JDBC.
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