Is Java a good gaming engine to use?

[Foxi4]

As far as development is concerned, @catlover007 is correct - there is virtually no difference between Java and C++ as far as the end result is concerned - they have access to the same API's, both can be used in conjunction with OpenGL and you can code the exact same application in both. The bottleneck of Java is the virtual machine as the performance of your application highly depends on the performance of the virtual machine. The benefit is cross-platform compatibility, since an application in Java is pretty much platform-independent. To me, C++ is superior as it compiles to a native binary and allows for much more performance-enhancing optimisation, but for basic projects that doesn't matter much. The bigger problem with Java is that it's messy and unintuitive, but you can get used to that. The choice of language depends on what you're deploying, to what platforms and how complex it is overall - a simple side-scroller will work in any language, including something outdated and silly like BASIC.