On 2 Apr, 16:50, while-one <Sandy.Pittendr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I know Java and I don't know anything about flash. So I think I see
> Tomcat and java servlets in my future.

Server-side Java itself has almost nothing to do with this problem.
The only way it might (you might use it, but it wouldn't be
contributing directly) would be if you use a pre-existing server-side
framework that generates client-side JavaScript (as many of them do).
You don't need to use AJAX just for drag-and-drop, but most of these
frameworks came into existence to support AJAX.

I wouldn't use GWT (leaks resources badly and requires browser
restarts if used 9-5). If you know Java, I'd start by looking at JSF /
Facelets or Icefaces. Icefaces also looks particularly attractive.

AJAX doesn't have any problem with browser sniffing or incompatibility
unless you're a framework developer yourself. A major part of AJAX (as
a formalised approach) was to encapsulate that sort of nastiness and
isolate it from application developers.