I am presently engaged in the development of a Java application that requires me to handle database connections effectively. I have encountered two choices for managing connection pooling: either utilizing a separate connection pool framework like Apache Commons DBCP or C3P0, or depending on the connection pool provided by the application server, like Tomcat’s DBCP or HikariCP.

I acknowledge that both methods come with their own sets of pros and cons, however, I’m uncertain about which one would be better suited for my project. Can someone shed light on the distinctions between these two methods and advise on when it would be more fitting to use one over the other?