I need to write a new application, and have no experience with any new technology, framework, or language. Here are the requirements: HTML front end (best if it's cross-browser friendly) Web deployable, but also ideally want to be able to install as standalone on a desktop SQL Server database Ideally, would like to use a good (and easy) AJAX toolkit with widgets Ideally, would like to be able to write in ASP.Net but later (or concurrently) also write in Java. This is a big concern, as I would like to not have to rewrite the whole thing. Is there a toolkit I can use that makes this cross-platform requirement easier? All suggestions and comments are much appreciated. Thank you.