ODBC :A standard application programming interface (API) for accessing data in both relational and non-relational database management systems. ... From : www.learningservices.gcal.ac.uk/it/staff/definitions.html JDBC :JDBC or Java Database Connectivity is a standard for database-independent connectivity between the Java platform and a wide range of databases. The JDBC interface provides a call-level API for SQL-based database access. From : www.soaprpc.com/glossary.html