🚀 go-pugleaf

>Since I can never get into Sun's Java site, perhaps someone could clarify what 
>Java is.. I have heard the following:


Don't dump VB.  Most of what you listed is true of Java except 
for creating EXE's.  It doesn't now, and probably never will.

Java is for internet programming - completely hardware 
independent.  All you need on the client side is a Java virtual 
machine (expect to see most internet browsers to include this 
support in the future).

Microsoft is responding to this with VB Script.  An internet 
programming subset of VB.

Problems with both Java and VB Script: limited functionality of 
all types including limited database and file access; security 
concerns (i.e. executable code downloaded directly into memory 
and executed - virus check that!), performance over the net, etc, 
etc.

If you need to do internet programming, wait for VB script and 
leverage your VB knowledge there.  Java is just like C++ so 
expect a steeper learning curve.

If you aren't doing internet programming, stick with VB!