[java] What is Parse/parsing?

You could say that parsing a string of characters is analyzing this string to find tokens, or items and then create a structure from the result.

In your example, calling Integer.parseInt on a string is parsing this string to find an integer.

So, if you have:

String someString = "123";

And then you invoke:

int i = Integer.parseInt( someString );

You're telling java to analyze the "123" string and find an integer there.

Other example:

One of the actions the java compiler does, when it compiles your source code is to "parse" your .java file and create tokens that match the java grammar.

When you fail to write the source code properly ( for instance forget to add a ; at the end of a statement ), it is the parser who identifies the error.

Here's more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parse