Which is easier 'C' 'C plus plus' or Java?

Answer 1

Java has the shallowest learning curve of the three and is therefore the easiest to learn and also the easiest to use.

However, programmers do not choose a language because they are easy to learn or use (we'd all be programming in BASIC if that were the case), they choose the language that best suits their needs. For instance, if you wanted to learn all three languages in the shortest time, then C++ would be a better option as the skills are transferable to both C and Java. While C++ has the steepest learning curve of the three, learning just Java and C in isolation would take much longer because they are completely unrelated languages. C++ sits somewhere between the two thus by learning just this one language, you learn the principals behind all three.

If your needs are determined by how your programs perform, then Java scores poorly. Java programs are compiled to byte code which is then interpreted by the Java virtual machine. While this alone makes Java programs highly portable (compile once, run anywhere) performance suffers as a result of the required interpretation. By comparison, both C and C++ compile to native machine code and can therefore perform as well as an assembly language program (which has the steepest learning curve of all). The downside is that code is much less portable and must be specifically written for and recompiled upon each supported platform.

So although Java is still by far the easier to learn and use, that does not make it the best language in all cases. If portability is a key factor, then it's hard to fault Java. But if performance is a key factor, Java's ease of use is moot. And if the goal is to carve a career in programming by the easiest route possible then C++ is the best place to start because the skills are highly transferable.