Java is a compiled language, which means that after a Java program is written, the program must be run through a compiler to turn the program into a language a computer can read. Java differs from other compiled languages, however. In other compiled languages, computer-specific compilers create distinct executable binary code for all the different computers on which the program can run. In Java, by contrast, a single compiled version of the programcalled Java bytecodeis created by a compiler. Interpreters on different computers, such as a PC, Macintosh, or SPARC workstation, understand the Java bytecode and run the program. In this way, a Java program can be created once and then used on many types of computers. Java programs designed to run inside a web browser on the World Wide Web are called applets. Java-enabled browsers contain Java bytecode interpreters.
