An overview of the new server-side Java platform - Java 2 Enterprise Edition - as it relates to building n-tier web applications. It covers the building blocks (Servlets, JSP, EJB, JDBC, RMI, JNDI, CORBA) then goes into special design considerations for server side programming, (including resource pooling and component based design) before finally discussing future design possibilities opened up by Jini and JavaSpaces technology.