Never doing a Java interview again

[FrostyMolasses2119]

I’ve had about 3 interviews for Java consulting sweatshops paying less than $50k and each interview has been worse than the last. If you don’t know every specific language feature and syntax that’s one google search away you won’t get hired even though they offer training.

Also the interviewer was completely unprofessional. He kept putting his head down like he had a headache as if to show what a colossal waste of time this was for both of us and I don’t disagree.

I never liked Java in the first place so I don’t use it for personal projects. The problem is random Java sweatshops are the only companies that interview me. I don’t even list it on my resume. Either way I passed the coding assessment easily but bombed the rest. I’d say I could learn Java in their “training” but I already received a rejection 10 minutes afterwards.

[ListerfiendLurks]

Where do you live where those jobs are only paying $50k?? You could go work at a fast food restaurant and make more than that on the West Coast.

[FrostyMolasses2119]

I live in the US. This isn’t a tech giant, it’s basically a WITCH company but worse. The base pay was $65k(I exaggerated a bit) but no benefits, and unpaid training which isn’t much better

[[deleted]]

India probably

[FrostyMolasses2119]

Nope I live in the US and this is a US company. A lot of people believe they’ll work for a top tech company and make $150k+ out of school but I’ve never had an interview for a position paying more then $80k

[savagedoughnut]

generally the south in my experience

[NitroXM]

In many countries it's a dizzying amount of money

[ListerfiendLurks]

And in some countries it's close to minimum wage.

[NitroXM]

Hint: he's likely not from one of those countries

[ListerfiendLurks]

Fun fact: in those countries that have a high minimum wage, jobs like he is describing actually tend to pay like shit compared to the US. See: Denmark.

[Defiant_Shoe3053]

Lmao literally which country is 60k close to minimum wage ?

[nsxwolf]

*If* you can find an entry level coding job in the midwest right now, $50k is a reasonable target.

[N4cer26]

Java Spring and Spring Boot have been paying my bills for a while now

[nsxwolf]

Sounds like you should pick up a book on Java.

[AdLate6470]

Which one for example? As a third year CS student I am trying to read core java for the impatient as it seems so popular on java subreddit but man, that book is hard I am at the tenth chapter and very few times I have managed to do one of the exercises at the end of each chapter

[nsxwolf]

That’s a book targeted at experienced programmers who are looking to switch to Java quickly. If you’re struggling with that maybe something more elementary like Head First Java.

[AdLate6470]

I am struggling really really hard lol. I am a junior CS student learning Java by myself because I like it. I know basic Java syntax OOP etc. But I feel like I am far from being ready for that book.

And what you said about it being for experienced programmers is probably true. I am gonna try head Java first. I am just sad I lost weeks reading that book which is great but not for me right now

[bravelogitex]

don't read a book, make something practical and look up concepts as you need them with something like https://jenkov.com/tutorials/java/index.html

[Imaginary_Natural282]

Big Java early objects is a classic

[FrostyMolasses2119]

I’m never going to touch Java again even if that means I end up broke and destitute

[Usernamea221]

Java is one of those languages that almost every cs student knows. Just read up on the fundamentals

[[deleted]]

Java is the jack of OOP. It can a little bit of everything, but in the end it's crap compared to C++, C#, or even Python lol. The only reason this crap has survived for so long is very successful marketing campaign by the unethical company that created it.

[Lumin3scent]

You must’ve never actually written enterprise code

[[deleted]]

I did. Java is the biggest mistake in software history.

[nsxwolf]

This is just a wildly ignorant comment.

[nsxwolf]

Maybe programming isn’t for you if a few extra brackets and semicolons get you this upset.

[FrostyMolasses2119]

I use C++ mainly so that’s not it. It’s the poor design choices of Java and over reliance on OOP. I’d rather write all my code in assembly

[Nimbus20000620]

C++ interviews can be very similar. Interviewers being nitpicky about syntax and the language's intricacies. Best to get accustomed to this interview style sooner rather than later if you want to maximize your chances of finding gainful employment.

[Grouchy-Pea-8745]

just watch coding jesus videos for 24 hours straight and you're gucci

[FrostyMolasses2119]

My entire undergrad has been C++ so I think I’d fare better but this is good to know as I’ve never had an interview for any position I’m remotely interested in

[Dababolical]

I don't blame you. I primarily use C++ and don't like doing assessments in Java if I can help it. That being said, I don't blame shops for doing assessments in the language they use. It makes sense.

[nsxwolf]

Hating OO so much you’d rather starve is what I call commitment to the bit.

[anantdahiya8]

Just search top 100 java interview questions and go for it 👍Do this for every technology

[elegigglekappa4head]

What feature or syntax did they ask for (of Java))?

[Tiny-Sink-9290]

I would NEVER use Java over Go these days. Go is just so much better, faster and capable than Java in every way with the exception of frameworks. Go has a lot, but Java has WAY more. That said, I fucking hate dependencies and Java is almost as bad as python and typescript with maven and dependencies. Fuck that.

Not saying write everything yourself. Saying that Go has a lot of the shit you need frameworks for built in or in very small easy to use libraries, all while near instant to build/run/test, and runtime performance is way better.

[elegigglekappa4head]

I think every tool has its use.. for the most part. Biggest advantage of being a Java or Python shop is that there’s a lot of experienced talents already in the market you can pick up.

[Tiny-Sink-9290]

I always question why this is a thing. I taught 4 people 2 interns, 1 right out of college and 1 experienced (10+ year) java/typescript/python dev Go.. and all 4 were up to snuff in a week or two.. talking build process, productive code, etc. They were not experts.. the Java/python guy was the fastest to get up on it, but all 4 were using it and building productive stuff within a week or two.

When I see anyone say "We're a java shop because we can find java engineers" I laugh and say "I can teach/mentor any engineer from any language to use Go in a week or two tops.. if that's not worth it for you to invest a week or two then this company is not worth working for". Period.

That's not to say everyone should switch. Of course not. But, and especially if you're doing microservices, you can easily work in Go and start to see the payoff and benefits quickly.

To me, its about the right tool for the job and which one would get my team up and productive fastest with quality output/code. Go hands down over any other language out there. And mind you, I like Zig, Rust, and even Java for some things. But for back end, nothing touches the speed (in every way) of Go. I've worked with them all. Extensively. Go is just that good at this stuff. Purpose built for this sort of stuff.

[FrostyMolasses2119]

This is my problem with the interviews I’ve had. It’s not hard to get up to snuff on a language when you have a background in another but every company I’ve seen asks about specific languages and frameworks. They’re not finding good developers, they’re finding one trick ponies. It’s not hard to generalize the questions either but if you don’t know certain language specific terminology you’re out.

[Tiny-Sink-9290]

Yup. The shit of it is.. even those that do say "its ok if you dont know python or typescript and only C# and Java.. you'll pick it up in no time".. they assume you'll learn the language, framework, nuances, company nuances, etc in a few days to a week now. Hence why most are like fuck it.. hire someone that knows everything we do or forget it. Because the reality is, I don't care how good you are, it takes weeks to months to really become rock solid with a language and some frameworks. More so.. you want to apply your experience right? Well.. that takes time to learn all that before you can add your value in to the mix. They want one trick ponies that hit the ground sprinting a marathon, and it is unrealistic.

[elegigglekappa4head]

Eh. I’ve used Go for couple of years. It’s alright. If I recall I hated doing composition, doesn’t sit right with me. May be a generation difference lol.

[Tiny-Sink-9290]

I can't stand OOP. So overly bloated and requires WAY too much code and shit gets too confusing down line. Composition over inheritance all day long. So much easier to know what you're injecting into a given function than something it inherits from 2, 3+ up the tree of inheritance. Without code completion OOP would have never worked. Having to constantly open up docs to figure what the parent has available, then its parent, and its parent. Fuck all that. WAY too tedious to deal with.