Tutorial: Designing Performance-Optimized JDBC Applications

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Introduction

Recognized as experts in database access standards such as ODBC, Java™ JDBC™, and ADO/OLE DB, DataDirect Technologies has consistently been instrumental in the development of new database access standards specifications. DataDirect Technologies was the first vendor to ship commercial JDBC drivers and the first vendor to be J2EE 1.3 and 1.4 JDBC certified across all major databases. Our role in helping Sun Microsystems, Inc write the original JDBC standard and subsequent modifications gives us unique technical insight into JDBC application performance.

Developing performance-oriented JDBC applications is not easy. JDBC drivers do not throw exceptions to tell you when your code is running too slow.

This document presents some general guidelines for improving JDBC application performance that have been compiled by examining the JDBC implementations of numerous shipping JDBC applications. These guidelines include:

• Use Database MetaData methods appropriately
  
• Retrieve only required data
  
• Select functions that optimize performance
  
• Manage connections and updates
  

Following these guidelines can help you solve some common JDBC system performance problems, such as those listed in the following table.

In addition, most JDBC drivers provide options that improve performance, often with a tradeoff in functionality. If your application is not affected by functionality that is modified by setting a particular option, significant performance improvements can be realized. For details about performance-related options, refer to your JDBC driver documentation.

• Using Database Metadata Methods
• Retrieving Data
• Selecting JDBC Objects and Methods
• Managing Connections and Updates