Self-study tutorial for users new to Derby

To help you get up and running with Derby as quickly as possible, this self-study guide highlights some of the more important features of Derby.

Tutorial skills and software requirements

This tutorial uses a series of activities designed to demonstrate the use of Derby in the embedded and client/server configurations. After performing these activities, you will find Derby to be an easy-to-use and fully functional relational database management system (RDBMS).

To perform the tutorial activities, you do not need to have any prior knowledge of Java software, the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API, or SQL. Each activity provides the complete command syntax that you need to use for each operation. Instructions include the syntax for both a UNIX Korn shell and a Windows command prompt.

This tutorial demonstrates, but does not teach, the Java, JDBC and SQL code that is presented. If you want a deeper understanding of these topics, you will need to consult additional reference materials.

To perform the tutorial activities, you must have:
  • A Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 or higher installed on your computer
  • The binary (bin) installation of Apache Derby version 10.3 installed on your computer
  • A basic knowledge of the computer command line interface:
    • How to start a command shell or window
    • How to navigate the file system hierarchy

System configuration

You should verify the system configuration before you perform the tutorial activities.

Problems and feedback on the tutorial activities

If you experience problems with any aspect of the tutorial activities, send an e-mail message to derby-user@db.apache.org. Someone from the Derby community will respond to your message.

The questions and feedback received will be used to make this tutorial more useful.