JDBC furnishes a call-level API, modeled after ODBC, and similar to the Oracle Call-level Interface (OCI). Some people find it easy to use, while others find it not concise and even painful. SQLJ furnishes a coarser-grained API modeled after the ANSI/ISO Embedded SQL Languages (C, COBOL). SQLJ has been adopted by many developers, mostly database developers, as proven by the avalanche of reaction triggered by the announcement of its desupport by Oracle. Fortunately, after a brief absence in early releases of Oracle Database 10g and Oracle Application Server 10g, SQLJ is back for good, as part of the Oracle Database, starting with 10 g Release 10.1.0.4 and later.

Part III gives you an overview of the SQLJ technology (definition, rationale, translator, runtime) and then looks at the Oracle SQLJ packaging and SQLJ in the database. In Chapter 11, we’ll look at the elements of SQLJ programming, including connection, statements, execution contexts, iterators, and dynamic SQL support (Oracle extension). Finally, in Chapter 12, we’ll look at SQL data manipulation and best practices.