SQL and JDBC ResultSet/Cursor mechanisms

A cursor provides you with the ability to step through and process the rows in a ResultSet one by one. A java.sql.ResultSet object constitutes a cursor. You do not need to use a language construct, such as SQL-92's DECLARE CURSOR, to work with cursors in a Java application. In Derby, any SELECT statement generates a cursor.

Related concepts
The JDBC Connection and Transaction Model
Locking, concurrency, and isolation
Working with multiple connections to a single database
Working with multiple threads sharing a single connection
Working with database threads in an embedded environment
Working with Derby SQLExceptions in an Application