The InfoBus is a compact Java API which allows cooperating applets or Beans, on a Web page or in any other Java application, to communicate data to one another. The InfoBus architecture enables Beans to be categorized as "data providers" and "data consumers". Data providers are Beans whose primary function is to access data from their native store, such as a DBMS, spreadsheet, flat file, Lotus Notes database etc., and to offer data onto the InfoBus.

Data consumers retrieve data from the bus, for analysis or visual display. This segregation of provider from consumer is extremely powerful in that it enables applications to be independent of their data; for example, a charting Bean need not understand SQL or JDBC in order to access DBMS data.

Of course, a Bean can be both a consumer and provider: for example a spreadsheet may accept data from a DBMS and provide data to a chart Bean.