I'll toss my two cents in. Java is one of the few languages in existence that I actively avoid (Symbian's particular flavor of C++ is the other). I've heard i

I'll toss my two cents in. Java is one of the few languages in existence that I actively avoid (Symbian's particular flavor of C++ is the other). I've heard it best described as being a very "bureaucratic" language and I think that sums it up perfectly. Checked exception and the rigid language rules just make Java really painful to develop with. For a long time folks went with Java by default. Usually tossing around something about how impressive the standard libraries are. That's an advantage that doesn't really hold today. Python and Ruby (in particular) have developed amazingly strong third party and standard libraries that allow you to accomplish almost anything, and do it with way less pain than Java insists on inflicting. Amazing things have been accomplished with Java. Hell there are immensely talented programmers who prefer Java. I'm just not sure that's really that common anymore.