JDBC Driver DefinitionThe four types of JDBC drivers are as follows:
Type 1 - ODBC Bridge
Used with databases that are unable to directly support JDBC. ODBC is a Microsoft Windows interface to SQL. This solution works best on a Windows-based system, but may not work on other operating systems that do not support ODBC.
Type 2 - Native API, Native Code
The fastest JDBC driver, written partly in Java and partly in native code, for example, Microsoft C++ . Although it speaks the native protocol of the SQL database, it is limited to operating systems on which native code is preinstalled on client machines.
Type 3 - Net Protocol, Pure Java
Written entirely in Java. This type of driver can run on any platform or browser that supports Java. The driver converts requests into a database that uses vendor-neutral protocol. A server process receives the requests and carries out the specified action on the database. With this type of driver, you can access SQL databases on different client machines without loading additional JDBC drivers. This JDBC driver is small and loads quickly.
Type 4 - Native Protocol, Pure Java
The fastest way to use the Web from a single server. This type of JDBC driver is written entirely in Java, which means it can be safely loaded into any Java-powered Web browser. The driver speaks DBMS-vendor-specific protocol directly to the SQL server. It is efficient, but if you need to attach to various types of SQL databases, several JDBC drivers must be loaded onto the client machines.
CONNX JDBC is a Type 3 driver, which means it can be run on any platform that supports Java. It is a pure Java implementation, designed to take advantage of the CONNX architecture.