JDBC

An application program interface specification for connecting programs written in Java to the data in a database. It is a Java API that enables Java programs to execute SQL statements and interact with any SQL-compliant database.

Since nearly all relational database management systems (DBMSs) support SQL, and since Java itself runs on most platforms, JDBC makes it possible to write a single database application that can run on different platforms and interact with different DBMSs.

Historical perspective: Similar to ODBC, JDBC was developed by JavaSoft, a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems.