Terminology

The Derby documentation uses some specialized vocabulary. Here are some definitions that will help you understand Derby:

environment

How your application interacts with Derby. Sometimes referred to as a framework. The two environments are embedded environment and client/server environment.

embedded environment

When an application starts up an instance of Derby within its JVM, the application is said to run in an embedded environment. In this environment, only a single application can connect to a database at one time, and no network access occurs.

client/server environment

When multiple applications connect to Derby over the network, they are said to run in a client/server environment. Derby runs embedded in a server or connectivity framework that allows multiple network connections. (The framework itself starts up an instance of Derby and, strictly speaking, it is running in an embedded environment; the client applications, however, are not.)