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Bigtable and the HBase API
One way to communicate with Bigtable is through the
Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java, which is a customized version of
the Apache HBase client. The Cloud Bigtable HBase client for
Java enables you to write Java applications that communicate with
Bigtable through the open-source HBase API. The
client is compatible with HBase API versions 1.x and 2.x.
The Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java is for customers who are migrating
to Bigtable from HBase and want to continue using the HBase API. In all other cases,
Java developers should instead use the
Cloud Bigtable client
for Java, which calls the Bigtable APIs.
To learn how to add the HBase client for Java to your application, see Client
Libraries.
Source code for the client is available in the GitHub repository
googleapis/java-bigtable-hbase. Sample code that uses
the client is available in the following GitHub repositories:
When you use the Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java, you don't need to
run the HBase server. You are simply using a modified version of the HBase
client interface. Google runs and maintains the servers for the
Bigtable service.
Because HBase and Bigtable are not identical, there are minor
differences between the standard HBase API and the HBase API for
Cloud Bigtable. See Differences between the HBase and
Bigtable APIs for details.
The Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java works with Hadoop 2.4 and
later. It requires a Java 8 runtime environment.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-02 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java allows Java applications to interact with Bigtable using the open-source HBase API, compatible with versions 1.x and 2.x.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis client is designed for users migrating from HBase to Bigtable who wish to maintain their use of the HBase API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen utilizing this client, the HBase server does not need to be run as Google manages the Bigtable service servers.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAlthough Bigtable is similar to HBase, some minor differences exist between the standard HBase API and the HBase API for Cloud Bigtable.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java requires a minimum of Hadoop 2.4 and a Java 8 runtime environment to operate.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Bigtable and the HBase API\n\nOne way to communicate with Bigtable is through the\nCloud Bigtable HBase client for Java, which is a customized version of\nthe [Apache HBase](https://hbase.apache.org/) client. The Cloud Bigtable HBase client for\nJava enables you to write Java applications that communicate with\nBigtable through the open-source [HBase API](https://hbase.apache.org/apidocs/). The\nclient is compatible with HBase API versions 1.x and 2.x.\n\n\nThe Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java is for customers who are migrating\nto Bigtable from HBase and want to continue using the HBase API. In all other cases,\nJava developers should instead use the\n[Cloud Bigtable client\nfor Java](/java/docs/reference/google-cloud-bigtable/latest/overview), which calls the Bigtable APIs.\n\nTo learn how to add the HBase client for Java to your application, see [Client\nLibraries](/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries).\n\nSource code for the client is available in the GitHub repository\n[googleapis/java-bigtable-hbase](https://github.com/googleapis/java-bigtable-hbase). Sample code that uses\nthe client is available in the following GitHub repositories:\n\n- [GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples)\n- [googleapis/java-bigtable-hbase](https://github.com/googleapis/java-bigtable-hbase)\n\nWhen you use the Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java, you don't need to\nrun the HBase server. You are simply using a modified version of the HBase\nclient interface. Google runs and maintains the servers for the\nBigtable service.\n\nBecause HBase and Bigtable are not identical, there are minor\ndifferences between the standard HBase API and the HBase API for\nCloud Bigtable. See [Differences between the HBase and\nBigtable APIs](/bigtable/docs/hbase-differences) for details.\n\nThe Cloud Bigtable HBase client for Java works with Hadoop 2.4 and\nlater. It requires a Java 8 runtime environment.\n\nWhat's next\n\n- View a [\"hello world\" example](/bigtable/docs/samples-java-hello) for the HBase client for Java.\n- Learn how to [connect to Bigtable](/bigtable/docs/hbase-connecting).\n- Find out how to [add the client library to your application](/bigtable/docs/reference/libraries)."]]
