Ok, here's my $0.02... Java is one of the worst languages I have ever used. C++ is definately the way to go. I would consider myself a master of C++ and intermediate at java. I'd sooner use PBASIC, perl, or even assembly than java. There's OOP, and then there's unreasonablely difficult and ugly code because OOP has gone way, way too far. It should be noted I'm also very much against C#
