[TheOtherHobbes]

Assembly isn't complicated. The instruction list for most processors is small and easy to remember, because it's mostly variations on the same few operations.

It gets unwieldy if you try to build complex data structures, because you literally have to do everything the compiler would usually do. So if you're trying to build an incredibly complex machine with lots of objects and interfaces, it will take you a very long time.

Java is complicated because the culture is complicated. It's not just a language - it's a set of architectural practices and expectations, some of which are questionable, combined with a unfeasibly large ecosystem of libraries and add-ons.

So it's easy to learn the basics, but it's not so easy to get to the point where you can start producing high-quality maintainable code within a typical working context.