The JIT is the JVM’s mechanism by which it can optimize code at runtime.

JIT means Just In Time. It is a central feature of any JVM. Among other optimizations, it can perform code inlining, lock coarsening or lock eliding, escape analysis etc.

The main benefit of the JIT is on the programmer’s side: code should be written so that it just works; if the code can be optimized at runtime, more often than not, the JIT will find a way.