Future of Java (Newbie)

[njnear]

I've written a web based application that keeps track of my personal finances. This application uses Apache, PHP, Postgrestql, Perl, and libcurl to access data on external websites and store it on my local server. However, I hate the idea of having to use PHP and Perl. I'm fairly proficient with both languages, but am eager to try something new. Java seems to be a good way to get rid of PHP, Perl, and libcurl.

My question is this.... How does the long term future of Java look? My perception has been that there has been a "cooling" towards Java lately. I am probably wrong, but I thought I'd ask the experts. The reason I ask is that if I'm going to rewrite thousands of lines of code in addtion to learning a new language, I'd like to know that I'm not wasting my time by using a language that's being used less and less (hopefully not, though).

I don't mean this to sound rude. I'm just seeking opinions from experts.

[JGRobinson]

Hi,

Java will be around for a long time to come, learning it will not be wasted
as there are a number of similar
languages which are fairly interchangable
as far as concepts are concerned.

They are C++, C#, (C to a certain degree), Java, and likely J#

I don't think that you should consider perl, and PHP on the way out. There is a lot of lines of script out there ....

Hope you have fun learning it.
Cheers

[kaemags]

Hi,

I feel that Java has a long way to go.

However, don't "rid" Perl and PHP right now. Especially PHP... I've not read much, but I heard PHP5 is gonna be a big thing. hahaha... anyway, if you have tried building web applications, you will find that it is always less trouble to build with PHP than Java.

But I LOVE Java.

Cheers

ka