Let me start off by saying I've never programmed anything in Java before. My Background is in VB6, ASP, and ASP.Net. I also have used limited javascript.

what i'm trying to find out how to do

I play alot of fantasy sports with my friends and am very interested in trying to create a java drafting applet like those you would find in yahoo and espn. From those applets it seems like you get live updates without having to refresh the screen (which is my overall goal).

what does it take to do something like that?
-what is the best IDE (if there is one) to create such an applet?
-is something in the way of ansycronous communication needed between the database and java applet?
-can i do this using j++ or j#?


Forgive my lack of knowledge, but this interests me very much.
I'm willing to learn what it takes.

Thanks for reading this and for any pointing in the right direction anyone can give me.

Scott