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Originally Posted by Vormund  Java because it's used in the real-world extensively, whereas C++ never really took off. Also, cross-platform is fun now and then. Lastly, it's a lot easier to get things done in Java.  |
Not trying to be a jerk, but that comment is pretty far off from the truth. C++ has things that Java can never and was never designed to do. Most PC games that involve 3D use at least some C++ because you get a level of optimization you can't get on Java. That and the fact that you can imbed assembly code, gives you even more opportunity to optimize your code for a given software. You can also integrate a Java assembly for JVM into your Java code but since you are, essentially, programming on a "virtual" machine you aren't really optimizing on the hardware you are working on. C and C++ are still heavily used so to say it never took off or waned in the amount of useage is way off base.
Back to the OP question. The language you choose should be based on what you are trying to do. No one language is the "end all be all" language. The reason why Java is so popular is, primarily, for web related development. This is because it is extremly portable and you can program for a single platform, the JVM. If you are looking into developing closer to the hardware level then I would go with C++. You should also take a look at C#. For Java it is hard to make it work across different languages but C# and .NET and COM (I wouldn't consider COM easy though) facillitate that much better. This allows you to develop in one language in an area that would best fit it and then develop something else in another language and then bring the two together.