Before I start my journey into learning how to develop games and computer program I have to decide what programming language I'm going to use. I'm thinking of maybe going with Adobe's ActionScript. Looking at the Adobe website, it looks like they have all the tools needed to accomplish my goals. However, I need advice from someone more experienced. What do you think?

All three languages are OOP, so in that sense they are all similar. I would suggest starting with Flash/Actionscript as it's really easy to distribute your games as any computer with a web browser can play your games pretty easily. Game development concepts are pretty much universal, so in learning to make games with any of these languages is going to be something you can utilize with your next language.

I'd say that the learning curve from easiest to hardest to learn is :

Actionscript 3

Java

C++

Another consideration is what is the platform you want to make games for ?

If you are looking to make console games, maybe you should just start with C++.

If you are looking to make mobile games, maybe Objective-C or Java.

C++ and Java are very similar in terms of semantics. ActionScript is a bit different here.

ActionScript is widely used in Flash game development (which is 2D games and very primitive 3D games). So it all depends on task you want to accomplish with it.

I never really understood why people learn a language just to learn another one later on, e.g. why would I want to get used to Java garbage collection if I actually want to do something with C++?

It depends on what you want to do in the end, pick the language best suited for that. Want to do D3D/OpenGL? Go with C++! Want to write some nice little games with Unity? Go C#! Need reflection? Maybe go with Java/C#! That might be a little bit though for a beginner to know, maybe if you would tell us more about what you are aiming for it might be easier to suggest a language.

One more thing, if you start with Java/C++ your first programs will probably be on the console, that is something flash doesn't really have, besides debug output in your IDE, also with AS3 you will most likely work with vector graphics, but in most other languages drawing pixels is more common.

I also never really got used to the syntax of AS3, its just weird in some places, and the biggest problem is that there are no templates, so if you need something else besides the vector class, you have to write your own containers if you are used to them, but I read somewhere that they want to redo the language. Still, its a great language for doing some quick crossplattform drawing stuff.

All three languages are OOP, so in that sense they are all similar. I would suggest starting with Flash/Actionscript as it's really easy to distribute your games as any computer with a web browser can play your games pretty easily. Game development concepts are pretty much universal, so in learning to make games with any of these languages is going to be something you can utilize with your next language.

I'd say that the learning curve from easiest to hardest to learn is :

Actionscript 3

Java

C++

Another consideration is what is the platform you want to make games for ?

If you are looking to make console games, maybe you should just start with C++.

If you are looking to make mobile games, maybe Objective-C or Java.

To start, I want to make 2D games for computer which I can publish online for others to play. Therefore, I should use Java? I don't think I want to use ActionScript because it costs money...Flash Builder 4.7 is $699.

FlashDevelop + FlexSDK(downloaded automatically) is free

I never really understood why people learn a language just to learn another one later on, e.g. why would I want to get used to Java garbage collection if I actually want to do something with C++?

It depends on what you want to do in the end, pick the language best suited for that. Want to do D3D/OpenGL? Go with C++! Want to write some nice little games with Unity? Go C#! Need reflection? Maybe go with Java/C#! That might be a little bit though for a beginner to know, maybe if you would tell us more about what you are aiming for it might be easier to suggest a language.

One more thing, if you start with Java/C++ your first programs will probably be on the console, that is something flash doesn't really have, besides debug output in your IDE, also with AS3 you will most likely work with vector graphics, but in most other languages drawing pixels is more common.

I also never really got used to the syntax of AS3, its just weird in some places, and the biggest problem is that there are no templates, so if you need something else besides the vector class, you have to write your own containers if you are used to them, but I read somewhere that they want to redo the language. Still, its a great language for doing some quick crossplattform drawing stuff.

My goal is primarily to make games (starting with 2D) for the computer which I can publish online. However, later down the road I would also like to develop non-game related applications for the computer. So will Java work for these goals?

All three languages are OOP, so in that sense they are all similar. I would suggest starting with Flash/Actionscript as it's really easy to distribute your games as any computer with a web browser can play your games pretty easily. Game development concepts are pretty much universal, so in learning to make games with any of these languages is going to be something you can utilize with your next language.

I'd say that the learning curve from easiest to hardest to learn is :

Actionscript 3

Java

C++

Another consideration is what is the platform you want to make games for ?

If you are looking to make console games, maybe you should just start with C++.

If you are looking to make mobile games, maybe Objective-C or Java.

I'm looking to make computer games to share online. Also, far down the road, I would like to make mobile games as well.

Games created using ActionScript can be more easily distributed because mostly everyone has AdobeFlashPlayer installed on their computers to run the games? If that's the reason, but then don't most people also have Java installed as well?