Java is an OOP programming language, while JavaScript is an OOP scripting language. Java creates applications that run in a virtual machine or browser, while JavaScript code runs only on a browser.

Another major difference between a compiled language and an interpreted one is when things are bound to their references. In Groovy, the following code prints "Bound to local variable": ...

The Essential Java language features tour has explored the most popular and commonly used features introduced with every version of Java since JDK 1.4.