Chapter 4. Session Beans with JDBC

Topics in This Chapter

• Relational Databases and EJB

• Introducing Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)

• Session Beans as Database Readers

• A Java Swing Application Client

• A JSP Client

• The Data Access Object (DAO) Pattern

• Customizing EJBs with Deployment Descriptors

Enterprise applications frequently need to access data stored permanently in a database. Depending on the application, it may be necessary to create records, search for records, or manipulate records by performing an update operation to a database. Consider, for instance, a web application allowing customers to purchase products online. This program might need to access a database to read catalog information, find or create customer records, and build purchase orders with line items from the catalog. The application must also store and retrieve purchase order information to fulfill orders, check order status, and assist customers with problems.

This chapter explores Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) for database access with EJB applications. Although JDBC is not a part of the Enterprise Bean API, database access is a vital component of the J2EE architecture. In this chapter, we'll show you how to read a database by integrating JDBC into stateless session beans.