Peter is the former President of the New Zealand Open Source Society. He is currently working on Business Workflow Automation, and is the core maintainer for Gravity Workflow a GPL workflow engine.
As a Java Developer for about 20 years I wouldn't start with Java these days. Python is certainly a popular language and has many benefits in terms of being more succinct. What takes 500 lines in Java can take 100 in Python.
Learning Java is also pretty pointless without learning all about the other parts of the Java ecosystem such as Spring, Hibernate and Maven. To become productive with Java might be longer than with other platforms.
If you are looking at web applications you will also be looking at learning various JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, React or Vue. Each of these comes with its own ecosystem of tooling.
As a former teacher of Java I recommend starting your programming journey with something like Python first. It is easier to get started with the basics without getting to grips with objects and classes out of the gate. Python still gives you objects and classes, but does not force you to use them. Learning Python will give you core competence with all the common programming concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, functions and so on. You might not need to learn Java after this.
However, Python will form a good grounding for Java later while being easier to learn initially.
Passionate developer in Java and Scala. And sometimes, something else. A few months per year, someone calls me "professor". CoFounder of Scala By The Lagoon @scalagoon
If we are talking of someone who is learning its first language, I totally agree with you. I may even hint at Scala as another interesting first language, but you need a very skilled teacher, as most resources online are not oriented to first-language learners.
But if you have in mind a junior or a professional who is eyeing a new field to enter into, Java is a very good choice. The market is huge, the OSS ecosystem is vast, and the resources are everywhere. So, as a second or third language is an excellent choice.
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As a Java Developer for about 20 years I wouldn't start with Java these days. Python is certainly a popular language and has many benefits in terms of being more succinct. What takes 500 lines in Java can take 100 in Python.
Learning Java is also pretty pointless without learning all about the other parts of the Java ecosystem such as Spring, Hibernate and Maven. To become productive with Java might be longer than with other platforms.
If you are looking at web applications you will also be looking at learning various JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, React or Vue. Each of these comes with its own ecosystem of tooling.
As a former teacher of Java I recommend starting your programming journey with something like Python first. It is easier to get started with the basics without getting to grips with objects and classes out of the gate. Python still gives you objects and classes, but does not force you to use them. Learning Python will give you core competence with all the common programming concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, functions and so on. You might not need to learn Java after this.
However, Python will form a good grounding for Java later while being easier to learn initially.
If we are talking of someone who is learning its first language, I totally agree with you. I may even hint at Scala as another interesting first language, but you need a very skilled teacher, as most resources online are not oriented to first-language learners.
But if you have in mind a junior or a professional who is eyeing a new field to enter into, Java is a very good choice. The market is huge, the OSS ecosystem is vast, and the resources are everywhere. So, as a second or third language is an excellent choice.