JAVA or Multimedia programming

I do keep a constant eye on the jobs offers in Europe and it seems that the trend here is that companies look relatively more for MS- specialist and that Java is more an extra.
Now it's also up to you to decide what you want to work on (the rest of your life)... i found Java quite fun and some companies, like the one i work for are looking for either C++ or Java developers (more often both) because there is a shift toward Linux... so we couldn't care less about MS.
Both languages are powerful and you should get strong bases of developement whichever you choose.
I learn C++ at university and Java by mysefl... and i'm shifting from one to the other depending of the project i work on.

bozigle

 

Well, it's mainly Java and .Net. I work mainly with php but we're -partly- switching to Java now.

 

I don't know from where did you come up with that, but Java is BIG in Europe. Almost all of the jobs posted at IBM and SAP ask for Java. Research and Development in many companies (the one I work at included) rely heavily on Java. Being multiplatform helps a lot too. I can code some stuff at home on my Mac and continue working on it on Windows at work.

 

Eclipse is the industry's standard when it come to Java development. Even future releases of Jbuilder (from Borland) will be based on Eclipse.

 

I, personally, like Java better than C++, but that's mainly because I find it easier to program. Our company develops applications in both so I've used both for work at some point or other--right now it's mainly Java. From what I've seen it seems like a lot of companies are often looking for both types of programmers.

If I were to pick between the languages at school, though, I would probably pick .NET just because I think Java is easier to learn on your own. I didn't have any formal Java training in college and was able to pick it up easily enough after getting a good C++/Object-Oriented programming foundation. Not to mention that learning .NET/C++ will give you a greater appreciation of not having to deal directly with pointers when you do learn Java.

 

Don't get me wrong!
Java is big and i'm a strong supporter of it. Multiplateform, plenty of libraries for everything. Now i'm looking at Job's offers from UK,France,Finland,Spain (yep i'm king of willing to move away) and Outside of usual, database specialist or System admin then there is a proportion of around two MS offers for one Java... but maybe it just that they don't have time to ask for and already got some trainnees that are willing to jump in real life... just my feeling... no hard fact

bozigle

 

VB.net sucks

 

If it's the choice between a wide ranging, generic study of Java and a specialised Multimedia only study of .Net then it's clear that the Java course will be more suitable to business programming. Very few business oriented programming roles have any multimedia requirements at all.