suzydon't worry about it - I've been working with the damn thinks for 25 years and there's also some new buzzword around to confuse a person.
Java is a programming language - all great stuff, it's going to change the world, computers will walk on water and pigs will fly. What it means to most of us is that we have to have Netscape or Internet Explorer versions which are capable of running Java programs - in other words, more money to Netscape Corpse or Billy Gates :-(
HTH (which is newsgroup-speak for hope this helps)
Rick.