pythonite

C/C++ will be around a lot longer then you think... For large development projects (where your typical lifetime is anywhere from 6-18 months) there is no excuse to use anything but C/C++. The reason is speed. Java gets bloated real quickly, so the built-in functionality of code production dithers to almost nothing. And as for programmability, an accomplished C/C++ programmer can do wonders (and the STL covers just about anything you need.) One up-and-comer that I haven't checked out yet is C#. Speed/robustness of C/C++ with the api/failsafes (i.e., garbage collection) of Java. Should be interesting to see what happens...

And one more thing regarding the popularity of Java in schools. I believe that C++ has a much sharper learning curve then Java, and Java plays a much better role in the learning of a first time OO coder than C++. But, just because it is taught in schools, doesn't mean it is a better language irl.