What is the difference between execute(), executeQuery() and executeUpdate() methods in JDBC?

Once you have created the statement object you can execute it using one of the execute methods of the Statement interface namely, execute(), executeUpdate() and, executeQuery().

The execute() method: This method is used to execute SQL DDL statements, it returns a boolean value specifying weather the ResultSet object can be retrieved.

Example

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.sql.Statement;
public class Example {
   public static void main(String args[]) throws SQLException {
      //Registering the Driver
      DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());
      //Getting the connection
      String mysqlUrl = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/sampleDB";
      Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(mysqlUrl, "root", "password");
      System.out.println("Connection established......");
      //Creating the Statement
      Statement stmt = con.createStatement();

      //Executing the statement
      String createTable = "CREATE TABLE Employee( "
         + "Name VARCHAR(255), "
         + "Salary INT NOT NULL, "
         + "Location VARCHAR(255))";
      boolean bool = stmt.execute(createTable);

      System.out.println(bool);
   }
}

Output

Connection established......
false

executeUpdate(): This method is used to execute statements such as insert, update, delete. It returns an integer value representing the number of rows affected.

Example

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.sql.Statement;
public class ExecuteUpdateExample {
   public static void main(String args[]) throws SQLException {
      //Registering the Driver
      DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());
      //Getting the connection
      String mysqlUrl = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/sampleDB";
      Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(mysqlUrl, "root", "password");
      System.out.println("Connection established......");
      //Creating the Statement
      Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
     
      String insertData = "INSERT INTO Employee("
         + "Name, Salary, Location) VALUES "
         + "('Amit', 30000, 'Hyderabad'), "
         + "('Kalyan', 40000, 'Vishakhapatnam'), "
         + "('Renuka', 50000, 'Delhi'), "
         + "('Archana', 15000, 'Mumbai')";

      int i = stmt.executeUpdate(insertData);
      System.out.println("Rows inserted: "+i);
   }
}

Output

Connection established......
Rows inserted: 4

executeQuery(): This method is used to execute statements that returns tabular data (example select). It returns an object of the class ResultSet.

Example

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.sql.Statement;
public class ExecuteQueryExample {
   public static void main(String args[]) throws SQLException {
      //Registering the Driver
      DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());
      //Getting the connection
      String mysqlUrl = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/sampleDB";
      Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(mysqlUrl, "root", "password");
      System.out.println("Connection established......");
      //Creating the Statement
      Statement stmt = con.createStatement();

      //Retrieving data
      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("Select *from Employee");

      while(rs.next()) {
         System.out.print("Name: "+rs.getString("Name")+", ");
         System.out.print("Salary: "+rs.getInt("Salary")+", ");
         System.out.print("City: "+rs.getString("Location"));
         System.out.println();
      }
   }
}

Output

Connection established......
Name: Amit, Salary: 30000, City: Hyderabad
Name: Kalyan, Salary: 40000, City: Vishakhapatnam
Name: Renuka, Salary: 50000, City: Delhi
Name: Archana, Salary: 15000, City: Mumbai