Connecting to a MySQL DB across the internet

[Jonathon Muir]

Ok all, I'm new at this, so if it's a dumb question be gentle w/ your replies.

I need to connect a java application to connect to a MySQL database across the internet. Now, it's not going to be using any JSP pages or anything of that nature. My question is how do I do it? Can the MySQL server listen on ports and process transactions across them (I'm assuming using the new JDBC connector that supports SSL). In the connection string, i.e... jdbc:mysql://localhost/...., would I change that to the web address and port number, i.e.... jdbc:mysql:http://1.2.3.4:6545....

Any help would be greatly appreciated, if you have a tutorial or a how to that you can point me to, I would be in your debt.

Thanks.