I have upcoming interviews with companies I'm interested in that largely use Java. I feel very conflicted about this because when I first interviewed for companies and tried whiteboarding in Java, I failed miserably because I was so slow and the syntax was so verbose. I later switched to Python but I'm still worried about the day-to-day life as a Java programmer. Though Java has a vast ecosystem, I don't particularly enjoy working with that language. I feel like Java inhibited my ability to think holistically in terms of software architecture and design, and I'm worried my design and architecture skills may suffer if I use Java regularly for work.
In addition, I have strong interests in contributing to open source software in my spare time, and many of the projects I'm interested in are written in Go, C++, or Python. I'm worried about the cognitive effort it would take to balance this work when my day job is in a completely different language.
Looking for advice on how to deal with applying/working for a company that has great benefits but unappealing programming language that conflicts with personal projects and dealing with fear of skills worsening
tl;dr
- Learned Java in college, used Ruby and Go for work
- Dislike Java because of verbosity, syntax, overuse of OOP, and perception that it obfuscates and complicates software architecture & design
- Have a strong interest in contributing to open source projects written in Go, C++, and Python. Worried that Java day job will make this balancing act of programming languages much more difficult
- Conflicted on following through with companies that use Java given language, personal interests, and fear of skills declining
Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you!
