If you're burnt out on using Java for introductory courses, consider using Groovy. (http://groovy.codehaus.org/ http://groovy.codehaus.org/). It takes a lot of

If you're burnt out on using Java for introductory courses, consider using Groovy. (http://groovy.codehaus.org/ http://groovy.codehaus.org/). It takes a lot of the pain and boilerplate code out of java, making it easier for students to focus on what they're actually doing and not writing "public static void main String args" all of the time. Similar to your example, this is a valid groovy program: println "Hello!" But, unlike Python or Ruby, you're still in the Java world so migrating back to to pure Java is a lot easier. Though, the shrieks of pain you'll endure when you explain why they now have to write constructors or getters and setters might hurt. :-)