Java is a popular programming language that was first released in 1995 by Sun Microsystems. Its creation was inspired by the need for a portable programming language that could run on multiple platforms. The language was originally called Oak, but was later renamed Java.

James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton are credited with creating the language. Gosling initially developed the language in the early 1990s as part of a project to create software for consumer electronics devices, such as set-top boxes. The team wanted to create a language that was simple, portable, and secure.

Java quickly gained popularity among developers and became one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. One of the reasons for its popularity is its "write once, run anywhere" philosophy. Java programs can run on any device that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), regardless of the underlying hardware and operating system.

In 1995, Sun Microsystems released the first version of Java, which included the Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The JDK is a collection of tools that developers use to create Java programs, while the JRE is the environment in which Java programs run.

In 1996, Sun Microsystems released Java 1.0, which was the first major release of the language. It included many new features, such as the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT), which provided a set of classes for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

Over the years, Java has continued to evolve and add new features. In 2004, Sun Microsystems released Java 5, which introduced several major features, including generics, annotations, and autoboxing. Java 8, released in 2014, added lambda expressions, which allowed developers to write more concise and expressive code.

Today, Java is still one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It is used to create everything from desktop applications to mobile apps to enterprise applications. Its popularity is due in part to its ease of use, its portability, and its large and active developer community.

Java has become a mainstay in the tech industry and is used by some of the largest companies in the world, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. It is also commonly used in academia and is a popular choice for teaching computer science concepts. Java's versatility and cross-platform compatibility have made it a reliable choice for developing software across a range of industries and use cases.