3.7 MySQL Connectivity Drivers

MySQL AB provides drivers that aren't programs in themselves, but act as bridges to the MySQL server for client programs that speak a particular protocol. This section discusses Connector/ODBC and Connector/J, two drivers that provide connectivity to the MySQL server for programs that communicate using ODBC and JDBC, respectively.

The MySQL connectors are available for Windows and Unix. To use a connector, you must install it on the client host. It isn't necessary for the server to be running on the same machine or for the server to be running the same operating system as the client. This means that MySQL connectors are very useful for providing MySQL connectivity in heterogeneous environments. For example, people who use Windows machines can run ODBC or JDBC applications as clients that access MySQL databases located on a Linux server host.

3.7.1 MySQL Connector/ODBC

MySQL Connector/ODBC acts as a bridge between the MySQL server and client programs that use the ODBC standard. It provides a MySQL-specific driver for ODBC so that ODBC-based clients can access MySQL databases.

MySQL Connector/ODBC is based on the C client library. It converts ODBC calls made by the client program into C API operations that communicate with the server.

3.7.2 MySQL Connector/J

MySQL Connector/J is similar in spirit to Connector/ODBC, but is used by JDBC-based Java programs. It implements the client/server communication protocol directly and isn't based on the C client library. MySQL Connector/J converts JDBC calls made by the client program into the appropriate protocol operations.