Java is a widely used object-oriented programming language and software platform that runs on billions of devices, including notebook computers, mobile devices, gaming consoles, medical devices and many others. The rules and syntax of Java are based on the C and C++ languages.

One major advantage of developing software with Java is its portability. Once you have written code for a Java program on a notebook computer, it is very easy to move the code to a mobile device. When the language was invented in 1991 by James Gosling of Sun Microsystems (later acquired by Oracle), the primary goal was to be able to "write once, run anywhere."