Self-study tutorial for users new to Derby
Getting Started with Derby
21
Self-study tutorial for users new to Derby
To help you get up and running with Derby as quickly as possible, this self-study guide
highlights some of the more important features of Derby.
This tutorial uses a series of activities designed to demonstrate the use of Derby in the
embedded and client/server configurations. After performing these activities, you will find
Derby to be an easy-to-use and fully functional relational database management system
(RDBMS).
Tutorial skills and software requirements
To perform the tutorial activities, you do not need to have any prior knowledge of Java
software, the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API, or SQL. Each activity provides the
complete command syntax that you need to use for each operation. Instructions include
the syntax for both a UNIX Korn shell and a Windows command prompt.
This tutorial demonstrates, but does not teach, the Java, JDBC and SQL code that is
presented. If you want a deeper understanding of these topics, you will need to consult
additional reference materials.
To perform the tutorial activities, you must have:
· A Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 or higher installed on your computer
· The binary (
bin
) installation of Apache Derby version 10.8 installed on your
computer
· A basic knowledge of the computer command line interface:
· How to start a command shell or window
· How to navigate the file system hierarchy
System configuration
before you perform the tutorial activities.
Problems and feedback on the tutorial activities
If you experience problems with any aspect of the tutorial activities, send an e-mail
message to
derby-user@db.apache.org
. Someone from the Derby community will
respond to your message.
The questions and feedback received will be used to make this tutorial more useful.
Tutorial overview
Each activity in this self-study tutorial highlights an important feature of Derby.
Here is what you can expect to learn in each activity:
Activity 1:
Use the Derby
ij
tool to load the Derby embedded driver and start the Derby
database engine. Create the database
firstdb
and the table
FIRSTTABLE
. Use
a few basic SQL statements to insert and select data. The Derby message log
derby.log
and the database directories and files are introduced.
Activity 2:
Use Derby within a client/server configuration. Start the Derby Network Server, which
will embed the Derby engine. In a separate process, use the Derby
ij
tool to load
the Derby client driver and connect to the Network Server. Create a database called
seconddb
and the table
SECONDTABLE
. Use a few basic SQL statements to insert
and select data.
Activity 3:
