possible Java contract, what alternatives to suggest?
pivo: It's hard to say not knowing the scale of the application or any of it's requirements, etc. In any case, if you do stick with Java you might try out the Play framework, it looks like a nice alternative to the typical gigantic Java framework. http://www.playframework.org/I haven't used play myself, but if I had to use Java myself I'd certainly look a it. Also, play 1.1 is supposed to support Scala, which would probably be much nicer.