Flink is an open-source stream processing framework designed for real-time data processing. It allows users to process large volumes of data with low latency and high throughput. Flink supports both batch and stream processing, making it versatile for various data applications. One of the key features of Flink is its ability to handle stateful computations, which means it can maintain information across different processing steps. This capability is essential for applications like real-time analytics and event-driven architectures, where timely and accurate data processing is crucial for decision-making.