Bruce Eckel states the case pretty well in this interview: http://www.artima.com/intv/aboutme.html
Bruce is the author of "Thinking In Java" and other excellent books, but has migrated from the Java camp. (I'm excited to see him getting at least a bit involved in TurboGears. He has a lot to offer any project in which he takes an interest.) I find his opinions particularly relevant. I've tried doing the Java thing, mainly because of the hype surrounding it... and the marketability. But I never got very far because I just disliked the language. (Personal opinion. But hey, this *is* comp.lang.python!) -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list