Java or C++?

[Robert Bossy]

s0suk3 at gmail.com wrote:
> Hello, I was hoping to get some opinions on a subject. I've been
> programming Python for almost two years now. Recently I learned Perl,
> but frankly I'm not very comfortable with it. Now I want to move on
> two either Java or C++, but I'm not sure which. Which one do you think
> is a softer transition for a Python programmer? Which one do you think
> will educate me the best?
>   
Hi,

I vote for Java, it will be relatively smoother if you come from Python. 
Java adds a bit of type-checking which is a good thing to learn to code 
with. Also with Java, you'll learn to dig into an API documentation.

Brian suggests C++, personnally, I'd rather advise C for learning about 
computers themselves and non-GC memory management. C++ is just too nasty.

If your goal is exclusively education, I suggest a functional language 
(choose Haskell or any ML dialect) or even a predicate-based language 
(Prolog or Mercury, but the latter is pretty hardcore). These languages 
have quite unusual ways of looking at algorithm implementations and they 
will certainly expand your programming culture.

Cheers,
RB