Java is an Internet Web Page Programming Language which can be used to create special effects and advanced programming within WWW-pages. Java was introduced by SUN Microsystems in 1995 to create new interactive possibilities on the WWW and has since then become accepted by all major operating system developers (IBM, Microsoft and others).

With Java it has become relatively easy to incorporate sound or video in WWW-pages or, for example, to count the number of page requests. Furthermore, Java enables interactive changes in the look of WWW-pages caused by specific actions triggered by the user. But Java has evolved into much more: software developers can build applications or applets integrated in the WWW-pages, that make use of traditional spreadsheets or word processors, or that can add database functionality.
An applet is a small program that can be sent along with a Web page to a user. Java applets can perform interactive animations, immediate calculations, or other simple tasks without having to send a user request back to the server.