Also consider what you are trying to do with Java. Java can be used to write stand alone applications with the GUI interfaces of the swing package or applets or server-side internet programs called servlets. I have been developing servlets for about a year now and I think it's a great technology for creating middle tier programs that interface with users via HTML (or XML etc). Servlets avoid the swing package (the buggy part of Java) in lieu of webpages. Also, I find the speed of Java (or lack thereof) is irrelevant compared to the time spent by the database servers in my applications so it all just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're interested in servlets visit http://www.servlets.com and pick up the O'Reilly book recommended there.
I find Forte adequate as long as you have the recommended 256 megabytes of memory. It's been stable for me on both Windows NT and Linux. If you don't have the memory then it's slow and painful.
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Also consider what you are trying to do with Java. Java can be used to write stand alone applications with the GUI interfaces of the swing package or applets or server-side internet programs called servlets. I have been developing servlets for about a year now and I think it's a great technology for creating middle tier programs that interface with users via HTML (or XML etc). Servlets avoid the swing package (the buggy part of Java) in lieu of webpages. Also, I find the speed of Java (or lack thereof) is irrelevant compared to the time spent by the database servers in my applications so it all just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're interested in servlets visit http://www.servlets.com and pick up the O'Reilly book recommended there. I find Forte adequate as long as you have the recommended 256 megabytes of memory. It's been stable for me on both Windows NT and Linux. If you don't have the memory then it's slow and painful.