A specification developed by Sun Microsystems that defines how
Java objects interact. An object that conforms to this specification is called a
JavaBean, and is similar to an
ActiveX control. It can be used by any application that understands the JavaBeans format.
The principal difference between ActiveX controls and JavaBeans are that ActiveX controls can be developed in any programming language but executed only on a Windows platform, whereas JavaBeans can be developed only in Java, but can run on any platform.