31.4. Performing Updates

To change data (perform an INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE) you use the executeUpdate() method. This method is similar to the method executeQuery() used to issue a SELECT statement, but it doesn't return a ResultSet; instead it returns the number of rows affected by the INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. Example 31-3 illustrates the usage.

Example 31-3. Deleting Rows in JDBC

This example will issue a simple DELETE statement and print out the number of rows deleted.

int foovalue = 500;
PreparedStatement st = db.prepareStatement("DELETE FROM mytable WHERE columnfoo = ?");
st.setInt(1, foovalue);
int rowsDeleted = st.executeUpdate();
System.out.println(rowsDeleted + " rows deleted");
st.close();