JDBC

Scenario:
After two companies have been merged, the decision is made that only one customer service application will survive.
However, the database of the second application contains tons of useful data. Conversion is not an option for now.

Possible architecture:
Upgrade the EIS tier by accessing the legacy system’s data source directly, using JDBC. If the legacy database does not support a pure JDBC driver but provides ODBC support, use the JDBC-ODBC bridge.

Pros:

• Generic access to databases from any vendor.
• Quick and easy to do

Cons:

• Increased coupling between applications, mandated by the schema of the legacy system
• No access to business rules
• Old schema might not be best suitable for the new application

Note: In many cases the legacy database will not support a pure JDBC driver. If the database provides ODBC support the JDBC-ODBC bridge can then be used instead.

JDBC
Java Database Connectivity.
A standard Java API for vendor-independent connecting to database resources.

JDBC-ODBC Bridge
ODBC is the Microsoft industry standard for connecting to database servers. JDBC is a pure Java solution that does not follow this standard. A JDBC-ODBC bridge allows JDBC to access databases that support ODBC only.