These days desktop applications need to be able to be easily deployed. Deployment has to be as simple as placing a new jar onto a web server, and the next time one of the application users startup the application, their machine needs to look to see if any younger jars need to be downloaded. Java Web Start is one such solution to this problem.

Of course any database application needs to be able to retrieve and then re-store data, and preferably as POJOs. In theory this interface layer should be able to work in exactly the same way, regardless of its actual proximity to the database. An application that has been deployed over the internet via Java Web Start should have the same source code as an application that is accesssing a database on your local hard drive.

Of the various approaches to data connectivity the most convenient we have found is that offered by Cayenne. With their solution your remote application grabs a proxy connection to a remote service that you have running on the same machine as your database. Thus all the transportation issues are taken care of. Wombat Rescue's production incarnation has been successfully deployed this way. There are however alternative approaches.