Greetings JPF members. I consider myself a beginner in Java considering I have about 1 month of actual time spent learning it. I have been working on a project (applet) that uses data that changes frequently. Currently I have this data setup in a CSV file which is read in anytime a specific button is pushed in the GUI. It works perfectly as it is but I want to take the next logical step and convert this to use a database. My issue is choosing the right application server to handle this.

My server is running linux and I have full admin rights to it. I have tried apache tomcat but, I am having a horrible time with my pages not reflecting changes I've made to the code without cleaning the work directory. It is a hassle and was wondering if there is another decent alternative for a beginner. I know mysql well and would prefer to use that as my database server but would consider changing if required. I generally learn by example or trial and error and search very well when I know what to look for. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.