Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Java servlet
     
         (By analogy with "{applet}") A {Java} program
        that runs as part of a {network} service, typically an {HTTP
        server} and responds to requests from {clients}.
     
        The most common use for a servlet is to extend a {web server}
        by generating {web content} dynamically.  For example, a
        {client} may need {information} from a {database}; a servlet
        can be written that receives the request, gets and processes
        the data as needed by the {client} and then returns the result
        to the {client}.
     
        {Applets} are also written in {Java} but run inside the {JVM}
        of a {HTML} {browser} on the {client}.  Servlets and applets
        allow the server and client to be extended in a modular way by
        dynamically loading code which communicates with the main
        program via a standard programming interface.
     
        Servlets are more flexible than {CGI scripts} and, being
        written in {Java}, more portable.
     
        The spelling "servelet" is occasionally seen but {JavaSoft}
        spell it "servlet".  There is no such thing as a "serverlet".
     
        {(http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/)}.
     
        (2002-10-06)