Java web development?

[Fretty]

Is Java not a thing that server-side applications could be programmed in? Javascript seems to have little in common with Java, so if it came to that I guess I should ask if I should learn Javascript or PHP?

Well, PHP and Javascript are languages that you use in a web document itself, such as these forums. These forums use HTML to show us what we see when we're here, but it uses PHP to pull that information from the SQL DB based on what the user is wanting to look at. PHP is more than just a bridge between website and DB though, of course, I won't get into all of that.

Java, as you know, creates applications that can be run, stand alone. I don't believe Java can be incorporated into HTML web pages...at least not as far as I know...

As for Ruby on Rails, I know very little about that except that I hear it more and more lately. I believe it's a brand new "up and coming" language. I don't know it's pros or cons or what it's supposed to offer that other languages don't already offer.