MySQL® Connector/J

MySQL Connector/J is a native Java driver that converts JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) calls into the network protocol used by the MySQL database. It lets developers working with the Java programming language easily build programs and applets that interact with MySQL and connect all corporate data, even in a heterogeneous environment. MySQL Connector/J is a Type IV JDBC driver and has a complete JDBC feature set that supports the capabilities of MySQL.

Features

The latest production version of the driver is now 50-100 percent faster in most situations than the previous version. It also creates fewer transient objects than before, leading to better performance and even more stability. The driver now also supports "streaming" result sets, which allows users to retrieve large numbers of rows without using a large memory buffer. With newly added large-packet protocol support, the driver can send rows and BLOBs up to 2 gigabytes in size.

New features from the JDBC-3.0 API in the latest production version of MySQL Connector/J include getGeneratedKeys which allows users to retrieve auto-increment fields in a non-database-specific way. Auto-increment fields now work with object-relational mapping tools, as well as Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) servers with Container Managed Persistence (CMP) that support JDBC-3.0.

The development version is being refactored to support new features in conjunction with version 4.1 of the MySQL database server, including server-side prepared statements and improved handling of multiple simultaneous character sets, including Unicode in the UCS2 and UTF8 encodings.

Downloads, Licensing, and Support

Two versions of MySQL Connector/J are available for download:

• MySQL Connector/J 3.1 is the old production-ready version of the driver, and is available under the GPL.
• MySQL Connector/J 5.0 is another old production-ready version of the driver, and is available under the GPL.
• MySQL Connector/J 5.1 is the current production-ready version of the driver, and is available under the GPL (recommended).

Commercial licenses for either version can also be purchased from MySQL AB, for those who don't wish to be bound by the GPL. For more information on licensing MySQL Connector/J, please contact us. MySQL AB also offers commercial support for MySQL Connector/J.

Interoperability

MySQL Connector/J is known to work with the following database tools and application servers:

• Apache's Jakarta Projects (Tomcat, Turbine, Velocity, etc.) — MySQL Connector/J works with all of these tools, and in most cases is the JDBC driver used in the example applications provided.
• JBoss The JBoss Open Source J2EE Application server. MySQL Connector/J works with both BMP and CMP beans in this environment .
• BEA WebLogic — MySQL Connector/J works with both BMP and CMP beans as well as servlets and JSPs on this commercial J2EE platform.
• IBM VisualAge for Java — VisualAge is a Java development environment.
• IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.0 — MySQL Connector/J works with this commercial J2EE platform. BMP, servlets, and JSPs are supported.
• Forte for Java and its open source counterpart, NetBeans — A world-class, professional IDE. The NetBeans IDE is a platform plus modules that includes components such as an editor, tools for working with source code (Java, C++, and others), version control, and a lot more.
• TableGen — TableGen automatically generates classes to represent tables within a database. It is released under the GPL.