Okay, I know that Java is a language but somebody has asked me if they can write a web application to interface in with a web app I've written in ASP.NET. I'm implementing a web service to serve up an XML so it's pretty language agnostic.

However, I'm not 100% sure whether going down the Java route makes a lot of sense. I was kind of expecting PHP or ASP.NET server side code with maybe some Ajax/JavaScript or maybe a heavier client JavaScript program using JScript.

Could some kind sole explain the basic Java environment when it comes with webapps. I've inferred the following - am I barking up the right tree?

• Java when run like ASP.NET is called JSP
• JavaBeans is a bit like the .NET framework, i.e. it's a library of re-usable components
• Java EE is a bit like ASP.NET in that it's a framework for building web pages on a server
• Java can also run on the client but it needs the Java VM installing

When running Java on the client, can you use JavaBeans and is there a framework? Can it also use JScript? I don't think so as JScript is JavaScript library.

Whilst running Java on the server would be okay, this is a relatively small application and therefore Java sounds like a bit of overkill. PHP or ASP.NET feels a better fit.

But I don't think they should go down the Java applet in the browser and it adds complexity that's not needed.

Thanks, Rob.