Welcome to Java programming! Java is a powerful, object-oriented programming language that's platform independent, secure, and robust. It's widely used for building web applications, mobile apps, and desktop software. Java's write once, run anywhere philosophy makes it perfect for modern software development.
The Java Virtual Machine, or JVM, is what makes Java platform independent. When you write Java code, it's first compiled by the Java compiler into bytecode. This bytecode is then executed by the JVM, which translates it into machine-specific code. The JVM contains a class loader to load classes and an execution engine to run the program.