Programming code that, once compiled, is run through a virtual machine instead of the computer??s processor. By using this approach, source code can be run on any platform once it has been compiled and run through the virtual machine.

Bytecode is the compiled format for Java programs. Once a Java program has been converted to bytecode, it can be transferred across a network and executed by Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Bytecode files generally have a .class extension.

All Java programs are compiled into class files that contain bytecodes. These byte codes can be run in any platform and hence java is said to be platform independent.