Java is an object-oriented programming language used widely for both desktop and enterprise applications. It is platform-independent and portable, allowing code to run on any system with a Java Virtual Machine. Some key features of Java include being compiled and interpreted, object-oriented, robust and secure. The document then discusses Java concepts like classes, objects, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism and abstraction. It also covers the Java development process and advantages like being simple, platform independent and having automatic memory management via garbage collection.