Java Runtime.exec() is a method in the Java Runtime class that allows the execution of a system command or an external program from within a Java application. It starts the process and returns a Java Process object that can be used to manage the process, retrieve its output, and handle input/output streams. Introduced in Java 1995 with Java 1.0, exec() is commonly used in applications that need to invoke external commands or interact with the operating system from within a Java program.

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/Runtime.html