I couldn't presume to tell you which is *better*, but I can take a stab at explaining what I prefer..

Which all depends upon the situation. However mostly when I use java for something (such as just now, for work), I find myself thinking, 'how can I test this line of code, or function quickly?', in perl it's a simple 'perl -e'<line of code here>', in java it's 'create source file, wrap class around it, compile, test', and thats what annoys me about it. (With any luck someone will answer this and tell me how to test on the fly ,)

Apart from that, I much prefer perls policy of allowing everything, and assuming the programmers'll be nice.. I just had to recompile a java app, cos someone wanted access to one of the protected functions publicly.. Silly..

But, thats about the language(s), and not the OO/not-OO things. There I prefer to be able to use whatever is appropriate at the time, no-OO if it doesnt warrant the effort, etc.

C.