I used to do a lot of C++ programming in high school (nothing intense...just simple console programs). Now I''m in college and I''m taking some Computer Science classes, and they are all taught using Java. I used to program in Java back in high school as well, and while I think it''s easier than C++, it doesn''t seem to have the power that C++ has. However, I''ve been "out of the loop" as far as programming goes (too many distractions...aka beer), so I was wondering if this situation has changed any at all with Java''s most recent SDK. I mean, I had always heard that Java was slower and not as powerful, but has it gained ground recently? I enjoy programming in Java more, which is why I''m asking. I know you wouldn''t be able to code a game like Half-Life in Java, but what is the most intense game you could create with it?

Actually, i do think you could do Halflife in Java. The speed difference isnt that great from what ive seen, but Java tends to eat lots of memory and garbage collection at the wrong time can be annoying for a real-time game like an FPS(but someone told me that its actually possible to turn garbage collection off, and do it yourself instead? Dont know if thats true or not).

So anything but the most cutting edge 3d engine could be done in Java, IMHO.

Java has evolved, as of 1.5 it supports template programming for example. When using Java, i miss operator overloading and the many wonders of the const keyword, and i also miss being able to wrie functions that arent in a class etc.., but on the other hand Java''s exception system is really great, providing easy access to stack traces, and it has a huge "standard" library.
Still, i prefer C++.

If you like Java better, just use that. Most amateur games could be done equally well in C as in Visual Basic And many proffesional games could have been done in Java without any problems.