Processing is an open-source programming language and environment for creating images, animations, and interactions. It was created in 2001 at the MIT Media Lab by Ben Fry and Casey Reas. The language aims to be easy to learn and use for beginners while also capable of producing impressive early results. It has low dependencies on operating systems and focuses on visual beauty with less code. Processing is intended for uses like education, data visualization, sound, interaction design, and small abstract applications. It features a Java-based programming language, a runtime environment called Sketchbook, and support for third-party libraries including video, audio, graphics generation, image processing, and hardware interfacing.