Problems in the initial teaching of programming using Java

In their analysis of the use of Java as a first teaching language, the ACM Java Task Force (JTF) identified a number of issues with the Java language and APIs which caused significant pedagogic problems. The focus of their work, and hence of their characterisation of the issues, was the Java "Standard Edition" (J2SE).This paper contends that the version of Java designed for programming small devices (Java 2 Micro Edition, J2ME) does not suffer from these problems identified by the JTF to the extent that the (more familiar) J2SE does, and suggests a number of other reasons why J2ME represents a good choice as a first programming language.