Java bytecode is the resulting compiled object code of a Java program. This bytecode can be run on any platform which has a Java installation in it.

The Java bytecode gets processed by the Java virtual machine (JVM) instead of the processor. It is the job of the JVM to make the necessary resource calls to the processor in order to run the bytecode.

The Java bytecode is not completely compiled, but rather just an intermediate code sitting in the middle because it still has to be interpreted and executed by the JVM installed on a specific platform such as Windows, Mac, or Linux. Upon compilation, the Java source code is converted into the .class bytecode.