I have a beginners question, I am learning Java, databases and trying to create a Java application that talks to a SQL server. My question is typically when I would like to install the application, Is there a way one can get away without installing the SQL server, in other words can one store the data in some manner (files..etc) and then use the same application which internally uses SQL queries to query the data. An example situation is I want to give this application to somebody and they do not have SQL server...

Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated..
Thanks