j++ (java)

well school is getting ready to start for me and me and my friend were gonna take programming 1 at our school which is visual basic but the only programming class he can get into is programming 2 which he said is j++ (isent that just called java) and i was wondering if it would be a good idea to take programming 2 with him because that way we will both be learning the same stuff at the same time or just stick with programming 1 (but i think i can learn vb at home pritty quick) thanks

Only learn VB if you intend to use Windows for the rest of your life -- otherwise it's a waste of time (IMHO). And from what I've read, J++ is Micro$oft's "embrace and extend" version of Java (can someone confirm this please?) which would also be forever chained to Windows.

Personally, if those were the only two available choices, I'd take J++ because it's based on Java, and Java (not J++) is a far more portable language than VB. And because J++ is based on Java, most of the programming skills you learn would transfer very easily to other languages (such as C and C++)

J++ is Microsft's programming enviroment, its about 5 years old. Programs arent bound to windows unless you use certain libraries, but you are limited to java 1.1 i think-its up to 1.4.2.

Definately take java. If you plan to do any programming you will need java or c, and VB is so simple its pointless. I learned it the night before a contest knowing java, and did really well.

Yea Visual Basic is retarded. From learning a descent amount of C++ (but my no means fluent or advanced), and taking a good look at VB tutorials and programs, I could tell I didn't even want to waste my time.

And to answer your question, yes, go with J++.

thanks ill have to wait till school starts before i know if my teacher will let me switch but i think he will

J++ is a dead language. It has been succeeded by J#.

i wouldnt say its a dead language. Sure, MS isnt allowed to upgrade it except bug fixes, and wants you to use j# cause it runs one windows only...but its still compatible with recent java releases. I can run old j++ apps with sun's 1.4 runtime.

Yes you can, but why would you want to?
J++ means Java 1.1 and that means no J2EE, no tomcat, no Swing, no SWT, no collection classes. Basically it makes J++ crap compared to everything else including any other Java version or J#. The only thing you get are inner classes. That's about it