Created a Salesforce developer account. Completed a simple cookbook example. No coding yet,  most of it from the developer portal, using mouse and clicking to create apps and entering label values.

Everything is controlled on the platform - database tables (called as Custom Objects in Salesforce language),  form creation etc. Prima facie the tool looks like it targets Business users to create basic enterprise apps.
All the development happens on the Web page (no IDE required). Also there is an Eclipse plugin available to do the development.

The programming language is Apex (predominantly Java syntax) but the code gets compiled to a meta-data which gets interpreted by Apex runtime.

Apps created on SalesForce are completely data-driven and tightly integrated with Data. You can create apps and share with others as well as use any of the available apps on the platform (provided you have rights).  Common enterprise services like user management, file upload, reports, search etc are available and usable without any customization.
Its easy to get started and the developer account is free, register here.
The example which I tried is Warehouse example.
Some basics and fundamentals of the platform are here, which I have started going thru it.
I have just spent 1 hr and it was fairly easy to try out hands on the Force platform. 
I have barely scratched the surface ...will keep exploring it.