Java is a programming language created by Sun Microsystems. It was
originally called Oak and was designed to be used in set top boxes which
explains why it includes certain features such as small class file size,
portable code, etc. When the first world wide web browsers appeared Sun
saw it is an opportunity to expand the use of the language which was now
called Java. Of course java  has changed quite a lot since the beginning
and is now used for a wide variety of tasks including server side and
client side software, middleware, embedded devices, handhelds, cell
phones, and more.

The Java syntax is similar to C++ but lacks some of the more error prone
elements such as manual memory management, pointers and true multiple
inheritence. Personally I have been using Java since the 1.0 days and I
find it to be a fantistic language for a wide variety of tasks. One
extremely nice benefit of Java is that there is an active community of
open source developers who continue to produce very good software which
is available at no charge.

For more information on Java, visit:

http://java.sun.com/
http://www.javaworld.com/

And for open source Java software, try:

http://jakarta.apache.org/
http://www.sourceforge.net/