Java was created in 1991 by Sun Microsystems as a simpler alternative to C++ that is portable, secure, and can be used to develop both standalone applications and web-based applets. The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) allows Java programs to run on any platform by compiling Java code into bytecode that is then interpreted or just-in-time compiled into native machine code. Java uses object-oriented programming concepts like classes, objects, inheritance and polymorphism and has extensive libraries for building graphical user interfaces, accessing databases, writing web applications and more.