Java Server Pages (JSP) is a web application technology that acts as an extension of servlets, allowing for faster development and less code due to its use of scripting elements, implicit objects, and tags. JSPs run in two phases: translation, where the JSP is compiled into a servlet, and execution, where the servlet processes the JSP. Key components of JSP include scripting elements like scriptlet, expression, and declaration tags, which allow for the inclusion of Java code directly in HTML pages.