Sometimes I get a question from a student or colleague on why we choose Java as our base for the introduction to programming classes. Here are some quick reasons:

• It is a ‘proven’ language to quickly learn programming
• It is used as first learned programming language in a lot of other universities and high schools
• It has a very broad application in industry and is a basis of lots of derived technologies (eg. Android Apps, JavaScript in Web design, Java Enterprise Edition)
• It can be used to program Lego (Mindstorms) and other ‘small’ electronic devices: One of the goals of the project Smart Products is to build a ‘smart’ prototype. To quickly build a prototype, students may use Lego (Mindstorms) in this project.

References:

“Five Best Programming Languages for First-Time Learners” – Lifehacker

“Educators embrace Java” – Java World