JDBC stands for Java Database Connectivity, which is an API (Application Programming Interface) used in Java programming to interact with databases. It is a Java-based data access technology used for Java database connectivity. JDBC provides a standard abstraction (API or Protocol) for Java applications to communicate with various databases. It is used to write programs required to access databases and execute queries with the database. JDBC technology provides universal data access from the Java programming language, allowing access to virtually any data source, from relational databases to spreadsheets and flat files.

JDBC is a collection of interface definitions and specifications, which allows multiple implementations of these interfaces to exist and be used by the same application at runtime. The API provides a mechanism for dynamically loading the correct Java packages and registering them with the JDBC Driver Manager. The JDBC Driver Manager is used as a connection factory for creating JDBC connections.

JDBC has been developed under the Java Community Process since version 3.1. The JDBC classes are contained in the Java package java.sql and javax.sql. There are generally four main components of JDBC through which it can interact with a database:

1. JDBC API: It provides various methods and interfaces for easy communication with the database. It provides two packages as follows, which contain the Java SE and Java EE platforms to exhibit WORA (Write Once Run Anywhere) capabilities.
   • java.sql.*
   • javax.sql.*
2. JDBC Driver Manager: It is used to manage a list of database drivers. It makes use of the sun.jdbc.odbc package, which includes a native library to access ODBC characteristics.
3. JDBC Test Suite: It is used to test the compatibility of JDBC drivers.
4. Database: It is used to store data.

JDBC drivers are required to connect with the database. There are four types of JDBC drivers:

1. JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver
2. Native-API Driver (partially Java driver)
3. Network Protocol Driver (fully Java driver)
4. Thin Driver (fully Java driver)

In summary, JDBC is an API used in Java programming to interact with databases. It provides a standard abstraction for Java applications to communicate with various databases. JDBC drivers are required to connect with the database, and there are four types of JDBC drivers.