I think the initial question is being ignored: Should Java be used to teach object oriented programming?
To this I would have to heartily say yes. I felt that learning Java didn't really complicate the already awkward task of learning OO. Java makes an excellant "concept" language by excluding a lot of the overhead introduced by C/C++ such as pointers and the multiple files needed to do OO.
However I also think that any practical computer science program will also make it a point to include experience in the "real world" languages. At my school they began with Java then segued into C++ OO and then threw in C and assembly for the more hardware-intensive classes.
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I think the initial question is being ignored: Should Java be used to teach object oriented programming? To this I would have to heartily say yes. I felt that learning Java didn't really complicate the already awkward task of learning OO. Java makes an excellant "concept" language by excluding a lot of the overhead introduced by C/C++ such as pointers and the multiple files needed to do OO. However I also think that any practical computer science program will also make it a point to include experience in the "real world" languages. At my school they began with Java then segued into C++ OO and then threw in C and assembly for the more hardware-intensive classes.