Hey guys I am currently in an AP computer science class learning Java. I am really enjoying it but I would really like to look into other programming languages. Asking a few friends that have taken the class and moved off to uni, they suggested Pearl, FORTRAN, and C++. Any other suggestions? Yes or no on these? Where to start and what not? Thanks in advance guys!
You could learn C++. You have to be more careful in c++ but it's a nice programming language.
But you could stick to java and read "Introduction to algorithms" or "The art of computer programming" and after that you could learn new programming languages.
c++
perl is used mostly in web coding, and FORTRAN is AFAIK, really only used in a few niche applications.
Fortran is great still for efficient calculations. It sees a lot of use in finite element analysis software and the like. So if you are thinking of going anywhere near engineering I would heavily suggest it. Easy enough to become decent at it.
Fortran < C++ at this point PERL isn't used nearly as much. With C++ you'll get an accurate idea of the memory and usage models which java seems to brush under the rug.
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I am going to look more into Fortran and C++. I will also try to pick up the suggested books!