Bridging the Gap: Database Connectivity in C# (ADO.NET) vs. Java (JDBC)

Every real application needs to talk to a database — whether that's reading patient records, saving user orders, or fetching product listings. Two of the most popular ways to do this are C# with ADO.NET (connecting to SQL Server) and Java with JDBC (connecting to MySQL). In this post, we'll walk through both approaches side by side using real working code. By the end, you'll understand exactly what each line does, why it's there, and how the two technologies compare. No fluff — just clear, practical explanation. Who is this for? Developers who know basic C# or Java but haven't done database work yet, or anyone curious about how ADO.NET and JDBC compare under the hood. Part 1 — C# ADO.NET: Reading from SQL Server ADO.NET is Microsoft's built-in library for connecting .NET applications to databases. In this example, we connect to a local SQL Server instance and read all records from a Doctors table in a hospital management database. The Full Code using System ; using Microsoft.Data.SqlCl