As I learnt C pretty early, Java comes close in terms of syntax. But, I don't hear Java in casual computing, as much as Ruby (RoR) and Python (Django).What a pity, Java is sidelined to an enterprise architecture!
With JSF2, Java is poised to be in the limelight. With JSF and some client side javascript code, Java is suited for quick webwork that can scale very well. Guys, what do you think about giving Java its worth?