Java DB is bundled in Mustang

Well, finally. I've been chomping at the bit on this one for quite a while. I can now officially announce that Java developers will have the convenience of a fully functional, 100% Java database shipping with the Sun JDK. Java DB 10.2 will be available with Mustang (Sun's JDK for Java SE 6) later today or tomorrow as part of the JDK bundles for build 88, available at http://download.java.net/jdk6/binaries/.

Of course this is exciting for me as a developer on Java DB. But I also think this is a great thing for Java developers. Out of the box you have a database that you can build and test against that implements the latest version of JDBC, and which, if you so choose, you can take and deploy your application with, free of charge. And if need support, you can get it.

You will find it under the db directory of your JDK install. You do need to be aware that the version of Java DB that is included in these builds is an alpha version, and that databases you create with this version are not upgradable to the production version that will ship with the GA release of Mustang. But you can start playing around with it and run tests against it starting today (or tomorrow).

As a reminder, this is Sun's redistribution of Apache Derby. There is a web page for Java DB, but all the community work (and we would love you to participate in this community) is done at the Apache Derby web site. We'd love to hear from you. Sign up on the derby-user alias; join the #derby IRC channel; ask questions, give us feedback. The community is very active and you get quick responses from Derby developers and users. It's free, it's open source, and now it's part of the JDK.