C++ vs. Java Performance

[manderson5192]

Hey guys,

My team is having difficulties choosing between C++ and java this year. Here are the considerations we need help with:

1) Ease of use / code complexity / framework: We have a large group of qualified programmers (about 10 people). Two of us are veterans from last year who used C++ but are highly competent in Java (5's on the AP Computer Science AB exam last year). The rest are all either proficient or approaching proficiency in Java. I've heard that the java code is a whole lot cleaner and easier to use than C++. Can somebody confirm this (preferably beta-testers, not random speculators. I already know the general ideas one can get from google).

2) Code execution speed: Obviously, java will be slower than C++. Can somebody do some timing tests to find out what the slowdown factor *actually* is? In your experience, does the slowdown make a difference (in your present application)? Do you think it will make a big difference during build season?

3) Ease of parallelism: Multi-threading on C++ last year was a PAIN. I know multithreading is generally easier in Java...does this rule follow on the cRIO?

We could really go either way on this decision, but I, personally, would prefer to use java if there's no great cost to that decision.

Thanks guys!
-Matt Anderson