# Derby JDBC driver

Derby consists of both the database engine and an embedded JDBC driver. Applications use JDBC to interact with a database. Applications running on JDK 1.5 or earlier, must load the driver in order to work with the database.

In an embedded environment, loading the driver also starts Derby.

In a Java application, you typically load the driver with the static Class.forName method or with the `jdbc.drivers` system property. For example:

    Class.forName("org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver");

For detailed information about loading the Derby JDBC driver, see "java.sql.Driver" in the Derby Reference Manual.

If your application runs on JDK 1.6 or higher, then you do not need to explicitly load the EmbeddedDriver. In that environment, the driver loads automatically.

Parent topic: Derby embedded basics
Related concepts
Derby JDBC database connection URL
Derby system
A Derby database
Connecting to databases
Working with the database connection URL attributes