Java refers to a number of computer software products and specifications from Sun Microsystems that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform environment. Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms spanning from embedded devices and mobile phones on the low end to enterprise servers and supercomputers on the high end. Java is nearly ubiquitous in mobile phones, Web servers and enterprise applications, and while less common on desktop computers, Java applets are often used to provide improved functionality while browsing the World Wide Web.

Writing in the Java programming language is the primary way to produce code that will be deployed as Java bytecode, though there are compilers available for other languages such as JavaScript, Python and Ruby, and a native Java scripting language called Groovy. Java syntax borrows heavily from C and C++ but it eliminates certain low-level constructs such as pointers and has a very simple memory model where every object is allocated on the heap and all variables of object types are references. Memory management is handled through integrated automatic garbage collection performed by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

On 13 November 2006, Sun Microsystems made the bulk of its implementation of Java available under the GNU General Public License, although there are still a few parts distributed as precompiled binaries due to intellectual property restrictions.

Platform

The Java platform is the name for a bundle of related programs, or platform, from Sun which allow for developing and running programs written in the Java programming language. The platform is not specific to any one processor or operating system, but rather an execution engine (called a virtual machine) and a compiler with a set of standard libraries that are implemented for various hardware and operating systems so that Java programs can run identically on all of them.

Different "editions" of the platform are available, including:

• Java Card: refers to a technology that allows small Java-based applications (applets) to be run securely on smart cards and similar small memory footprint devices.
• Java ME (Micro Edition): Specifies several different sets of libraries (known as profiles) for devices which are sufficiently limited that supplying the full set of Java libraries would take up unacceptably large amounts of storage.
• Java SE (Standard Edition): For general purpose use on desktop PCs, servers and similar devices.
• Java EE (Enterprise Edition): Java SE plus various APIs useful for multi-tier client-server enterprise applications.

The Java Platform consists of several programs, each of which provides a distinct portion of its overall capabilities. For example, the Java compiler, which converts Java source code into Java bytecode (an intermediate language for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)), is provided as part of the Java Development Kit (JDK). The Java Runtime Environment (JRE), complementing the JVM with a just-in-time (JIT) compiler, converts intermediate bytecode into native machine code on the fly. Also supplied are extensive libraries (pre-compiled into Java bytecode) containing reusable code, as well as numerous ways to deploy Java applications, including embedding them in a web page as an applet.