Server side database access with Applets?

Question

Does anyone know how to do this without any JDBC or any other expensive, server heavy and special requirements?
Who could be interested in this?
Am i the only one?
Most internet hosts, rented i mean, do not give many possibilities you have PHP and not much more to access a MySql or other database engine.
If you want to build an aplication, a decent one, you must use java Applet because server side Java is not very interesting and is very expensive.

Answer 1

Personally, I think server-side Java is very interesting and would disagree that a decent web application necessarily requires applets.
I use Supplehost for their reliable and inexpensive Java hosting service.
Many sites and applications make use of cross-browser DHTML and Java server technologies (JSP and servlets) are ideal for building and delivering data-driven DHTML pages.
Of course applets have their advantages but, without a server providing access to data in a database, they're effectively working just as a static web page.
There are other interfaces to databases: for example, Microsoft SQL Server provides the means to interrogate SQL databases through the underlying web server and to have the results returned in XML format.
For me, J2EE provides the best tools for developing data-driven applications and the question over which client should do the presenting is more often one of how best to cater for the intended audience: cross-browser DHTML is best in some circumstances, applets in others, Macromedia Flash in others.
Check out Supplehost's site: you get SSH and secure FTP access to a shared server, can install and run servlets and JSP applications and upload, configure and restart your applications very easily:
http://www.supplehost.com
Chris.