In
computing,
Microsoft's
ActiveX Data Objects (
ADO) comprises a set of
Component Object Model (COM)
objects for accessing data sources. A part of
MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components), it provides a
middleware layer between
programming languages and
OLE DB (a means of accessing data stores, whether
databases or not, in a uniform manner). ADO allows a
developer to write programs that access data without knowing how the database is implemented; developers must be aware of the database for connection only. No knowledge of
SQL is required to access a database when using ADO, although one can use ADO to execute SQL commands directly (with the disadvantage of introducing a dependency upon the type of database used).