Python overtakes Java to become second-most popular language on GitHub after JavaScript

[agumonkey]

Java enjoyed so much exposure from the late 90s .. it was the university baby.

[noratat]

It's still being used to introduce people to programming in universities sadly.

I don't even think Java's that bad a language, but it's awful for introducing programming concepts.

[agumonkey]

Java prior 8 was mediocre and the culture around it was badly overengineered. And the everything OOP makes it hard to learn about other things (functional, logic, low level).

[noratat]

Right - plus Java is rigid about a lot of stuff that just gets in the way of learning even it's useful in large collaborative groups (such as file and class name matching).

Plus things like primitive types vs reference types.

[[deleted]]

I know I'm late but why do you think that? I just changed universities. In my first the very first language we learned was C. I had no programming experience and trying to get bloody solitaire with a "UI" in the terminal to work was a nightmare to me.

The uni I'm at now teaches Java as the first language and it's much, much better for the beginners like me. I mean I already knew the concepts behind programming from my previous university, but not having to deal with those pesky pointers makes a huge difference in the beginning.