Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that executes Java bytecode. It provides the runtime environment for running Java applications and translates bytecode into machine code that can be executed by the computer's operating system.
Related terms
Bytecode: Bytecode is a low-level representation of Java source code that is platform-independent. It is generated by the Java compiler and can be executed by the JVM.
Object-oriented programming: Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that organizes data and behavior into reusable objects. Java, which runs on the JVM, is an object-oriented programming language.
Garbage collection: Garbage collection is an automatic memory management process in which the JVM identifies and frees up memory occupied by objects that are no longer needed in order to prevent memory leaks.