| Hell if he wants to learn a hobby I suppose web scripting or PERL wouldn't be too bad, but then that's strictly scripting (though it's hard to imagine what you CAN'T do with PERL that you can do with any other platform). I'll admit nowadays java can be as oblique as c, but at its core you can still get running UI apps without much effort.
I've managed and trained engineers for years under C/C++ but I still demand new hires get familiar with java. A firm grip on Java lets me take some important assumptions about a programmer's grasp of OO workflow. That way when the hire moves into production, we can focus on the nightmare of C++ build directives, compiler environments, and training the poor shmuck for what he'll be doing for most of his career: staring at a debugger. |