2. It's aimed low. In the original Java white paper, Gosling explicitly says
Java was designed not to be too difficult for programmers used to C. It was
designed to be another C++: C plus a few ideas taken from more advanced
languages. Like the creators of sitcoms or junk food or package tours,
Java's designers were consciously designing a product for people not as
smart as them. Historically, languages designed for other people to use have
been bad: Cobol, PL/I, Pascal, Ada, C++. The good languages have been those
that were designed for their own creators: C, Perl, Smalltalk, Lisp.

Paul Graham
Java's Cover - http://www.paulgraham.com/javacover.html