Java is an object-oriented programming language that was initially developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems in 1991. It is free to use, runs on all platforms, and is widely used for both desktop and mobile applications as well as large systems. Java code is compiled to bytecode that runs on a Java Virtual Machine, making Java programs platform independent. Key features of Java include being object-oriented, robust, secure, portable, high performance, and having a simple syntax. Java is commonly used to develop web applications, mobile apps, games, and for big data processing.