| title | ODBC Overview | Microsoft Docs | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ms.custom | |||
| ms.date | 01/19/2017 | ||
| ms.prod | sql | ||
| ms.prod_service | connectivity | ||
| ms.reviewer | |||
| ms.technology | connectivity | ||
| ms.topic | conceptual | ||
| helpviewer_keywords |
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| ms.assetid | 233315bd-2b7f-4b20-9978-e920e1ea9a07 | ||
| author | David-Engel | ||
| ms.author | v-daenge |
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a widely accepted application programming interface (API) for database access. It is based on the Call-Level Interface (CLI) specifications from Open Group and ISO/IEC for database APIs and uses Structured Query Language (SQL) as its database access language.
ODBC is designed for maximum interoperability - that is, the ability of a single application to access different database management systems (DBMSs) with the same source code. Database applications call functions in the ODBC interface, which are implemented in database-specific modules called drivers. The use of drivers isolates applications from database-specific calls in the same way that printer drivers isolate word processing programs from printer-specific commands. Because drivers are loaded at run time, a user only has to add a new driver to access a new DBMS; it is not necessary to recompile or relink the application.
This section contains the following topics.