[neilsonster]

EasyC is great for beginners, as it is easy to understand and it shows you the code it generates as you go (so hopefully the programmer will learn along the way).

C is a very good language to use for the types of applications seen in FRC. Compared to C++ and Java, it is a very "light" language which still has all of the functionality you will need to program your robot. This is important since the IFI Robot Controller that you get with the kit of parts doesn't have too much processing power or memory in comparison to your personal computer. As far as I know, C is the standard in embedded-level programming.

As far as C++ and Java go, you will get lots of different opinions. I personally prefer C++ because there are lots of things you can't do in Java that you can get away with in C++. The downside is that it's easy to write code that breaks! I use C++ for both school and my own projects.

Java, on the other hand, sort of forces you to be a better software developer by taking care of memory management and providing plenty of built-in libraries to use. Java is also not dependent on any specific operating system, so a lot of companies use it to make their software more versatile. So far I have really only used Java for school, but at my next co-op job I'll be doing software development using Java.