In this chapter we're going to start getting to grips with what will definitely be the database access technology of the future – ADO. We'll look quickly at the historical background to the development of ADO before moving on to discuss more recent developments in data access technologies. Then we will begin exploring the concepts and components of ADO itself before moving on to create our first pieces of code that will program ADO for us. There's a lot of ground to cover – as always in this exciting field – so let's get going!