General programming language question

[True Cherokee]

I'm currently in a computer science class in my senior year of high school and we're learning java. I was wondering if this is going to be the language I would be using in the workforce after college if I graduate with an interactive media degree. I've heard multiple people say that java is a waste of time and that I should learn C/C++ and other who say forget both of them and learn Python or Perl. I was hoping somebody could shed some light on this and let me know which language I should be focusing on.

 

[Southphilyman]

Don't worry about what specific language you are learning. Concentrate on the fundamentals of Object Orienting Programming. If you get a development job you will be required to constantly learn new languages and tools anyway. I'm in the US and Java is heavily used. C++ and Python is also good. MIT teaches it's undergrads in Python, I learned C, C++, and Java at my university.

 

[Coin]

Java is still relevant and there are good jobs doing Java coding. Besides this Southphilyman is right, if you learn Java well then it will put you in a good position to transition to C++ or Python.

I do suggest learning Python alongside Java if you have the time-- maybe when you learn a concept in your Java class, try and see if you can do the same thing in Python. Python is much simpler than Java and so the skills should be immediately transferrable. Learning C++ can wait until you have a good grasp of one of those other languages (or until you find you need it).

I honestly think I would recommend against learning Perl at this point. It is becoming less useful as a language with time and it will teach you weird habits that don't apply to other languages.