Java is a programming language environment ("Java" for short) from Sun Microsystems
Java is now supported or have upcoming support from many large organizations, including Microsoft, IBM and Apple
Java is similar to C++, but with improvements
Java runs interpreted normally, but can be converted to native "on-the-fly"
Applications are portable across multiple platforms without need to recompile
Applications are robust because the Java runtime system manages memory for you
Interactive graphical applications have high performance because Java allows background activities to be run in separate threads
Your applications are adaptable to changing environments because you can dynamically download code modules from anywhere on the network
Your end users can trust application integrity, even though they're downloading code from the Internet; Java runtime system has built-in protection against viruses and tampering
A change of approach from monolithic to modular application design
