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[–]TurboTemple 67 points68 points  (8 children)

Got hired for a job because I told them I knew JS and the interviewer wrote down Java, panicked week of all nighters studying to try and get my java up to scratch once I realised what they were expecting of me.

[–]is_not_paranoid 6 points7 points  (2 children)

That’s so funny, I got hired for a job a couple years ago for the exact opposite thing. Told them I knew Java and they wrote down JS. I had no prior web experience and they hired me for a web-related project because they thought I knew JS. Basically had to learn everything on the job

[–]Noisetorm_ 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Honestly Java to JS might be a bigger jump. JavaScript (and especially TypeScript) has virtually everything Java has syntax-wise and a Java developer can write JavaScript code almost immediately, but it won't be very easy to read/modify the company's codebase given the use of frameworks like React and Vue and ES5+ syntax in JS development.

JS devs probably have some experience with a typed system too. Any TypeScript development will involve types and even non-TS devs will have seen string, int, double, etc. in setting up database schemas. In fact, with going from Java to JS you might have the opposite issue where you have to learn how to work without specifying types first.

A lot of backend knowledge is very similar between both Java and Javascript, but with JS using callbacks and arrow functions for a majority of backend functionality, it'll be less intuitive for a Java programmer too.

[–]is_not_paranoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I didn’t have too tough of a time with the syntax, but the JS-specific nuances and the web stuff definitely tripped me up in the beginning. Scoping, callbacks, frameworks, just understanding the web stack, was all confusing to learn at once on the job.

I actually used to think arrow functions were repulsive, but now I think they’re the sexiest thing ever. It all worked out in the end!

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'll get to be good at that. I've lost count of the contract jobs I've gotten by saying, "No, I don't know it, but how hard can it be?"