what is odbc connection

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) that allows applications to access data from a variety of database management systems (DBMSs) using SQL as a standard for accessing the data. ODBC is a low-level, high-performance interface that is designed specifically for relational data stores. The ODBC interface allows maximum interoperability, which means a single application can access data in diverse DBMSs through a single interface. Moreover, that application will be independent of any DBMS from which it accesses data. Users of the application can add software components called drivers, which interface between an application and a specific DBMS. An ODBC driver enables applications and programming languages to access data in database management systems through the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface. ODBC drivers are dynamic-link libraries on Windows and shared objects on Linux/UNIX.