Java is an object-oriented programming language that is platform independent. It was developed by Sun Microsystems, now owned by Oracle. Java code is compiled into bytecode that runs on a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), allowing it to run on any device that supports a JVM. Java supports features like inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. It is widely used for client-side applications like applets and server-side applications like servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP). The main Java editions are Java SE for desktop applications, Java EE for enterprise applications, and Java ME for mobile applications.