Java sucks?

An interesting story from CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering and reported on Joels on Software's blog has a few controversial statements.

First, both the journal and Joel agree that Java is not a good choice for a first programming language at universities. Second, Joel mentions that there should be a separate college degree for programming, for those kids that don't want to deal with the more theoretical aspects of Computer Science. He also calls programming an art and as such the degree these kids get should be a Bachelors of Fine Arts.

While I agree that programming can be considered an art form, I do not share the same feelings toward Java "dumbing down the curriculum" and the comment about the BFA degree. Java does hide many of the low-level details such as pointers and direct memory manipulation when compared to C/C++. However, Java is a modern programming language. It was designed to not use those features and to make it easier on programmers to get their job done. Depending on what you are working on that might be a benefit or a problem. But the same thing can be said about C and C++. And any degree dealing with programming should be a Science degree: Bachelors of Science, etc.

The other comments in Joel's blog basically boil down to never-ending battle between Computer Science vs Software Engineering. Both disciplines are necessary, but I tend to fall in the CS camp. Without the theory behind computers how do we expect to come up with the next "big thing." Google was made because of the theory behind graphs, not because of the low-level details of the implementing language. Lastly, most universities these days offer enough programming electives for students to focus on their interests.

Undergraduate programming - Joel on Software blog.
Where are the the Software Engineers of tomorrow - CrossTalk