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The reason against switching to Java is the same complexity that some seem to be a good thing. Java is much more complex than PBasic. Namely, the Object Oriented nature of Java makes it quite a bit more complex to learn than PBasic. It also requires a knowledge of functions/methods, encapsulation, data hiding, and quite a few other things. It's unlikely that the default program code would not take advantage of this. There would also be numerous more runtime errors that would have to dealt with. The main issue is that a number of teams have problems with getting the programming to work now. FIRST is not going to change the programming situation unless it's an optional change (think the same way that the electronics board was added this year). From someone who teaches Java to college students, it's not going to be nearly as easy to get high school students to learn it quickly.
For programming on PIC chips, the most commonly used language is Assembly. Following that, it'd be C (not C++). I don't have any actual information to back this up but I doubt that the JStamp uses a PIC chip as they just aren't powerful enough to run a JVM. I'd guess something like the Motorola 68000. I'd really not expect to ever see LISP/Scheme. It's too heavyweight for use in an embedded system and just really isn't suited to it.
Matt
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