java

Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It compiles source code into platform-independent bytecode that runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This enables Java programs to run on many operating systems and hardware configurations without modification, provided a compatible JVM is available. Java emphasizes portability, performance through Just-In-Time compilation, and security.

Java was developed by James Gosling and others at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as Java 1.0. The language was named after coffee, and its slogan highlights write once, run anywhere. The Java Platform comprises the Java Development Kit (JDK), the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), and the Java Class Library, together with the JVM. Since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, the OpenJDK project has served as the reference implementation. Java 9 introduced the module system (Project Jigsaw), and the platform now follows a roughly six-month release cadence, with long-term support (LTS) releases such as Java 11 and Java 17.

Key features include automatic memory management through garbage collection, a strong type system, extensive APIs, built-in support for multithreading, and a broad ecosystem of tools and frameworks. Java SE provides core language features and APIs; Java EE (now Jakarta EE) covers enterprise applications, while Java ME targeted smaller or constrained devices. Java remains widely used in server-side applications, desktop software, and Android app development, where Java or Java-like languages such as Kotlin run on the Android Runtime.