Java is an object-oriented programming language that is platform-independent. It uses classes and objects to create programs. The key steps to create a Java program are: 1. Write Java code in a .java file with the required classes and methods. 2. Compile the Java code using the javac compiler which produces .class files. 3. Run the program by executing the main method using the java command, which runs code from the .class files. The example provided is an evolutionary design system written in Java. It uses classes like Model, EvoDesign, FitnessFn to set up a genetic algorithm for evolutionary design with methods for evaluating fitness, running the GA, and displaying