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Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

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Re: Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

#3
Java is worth learning because:

- It's a popular programming language with a large and diverse install base;

- It's commonly used in server-side backends, and in a modified but recognizable form, for Android app development;

- It's an imperative language whose dominant paradigm is object-oriented, but Java 8 and later bring in constructs familiar from functional languages;

- It's verbose and doesn't favor cleverness. If you think this is a drawback, avoid it.

A comparable language that's better-designed in C#. However, in many settings, it is less used.

A language which was designed with most of the same design goals as Java is Go. The two nonetheless ended up perceived as quite different.

Re: Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

#4
No. Also: Yes.

Really? It depends. Its use is massively widespread, and will be for, at minimum, the next decade (or two). So, it is a very marketable skill. But it's not as "hot" or (for my very subjective viewpoint)"fun" to write.

So: It depends. On goals, on preferences, on you.

Re: Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

#5
Java is worth learning. It'll take you a few days or weeks to get comfortable.

It may not be worth getting good at it, unless it's purely a way to get a job at a big company.

Brightest futures seem to be Python (for data science and AI), Rust, Elm, Kotlin, Go, maybe F#, and probably Swift.

Re: Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

#7
Java itself is worth learning, but one thing to consider as a bonus: if you can learn java and some of the associated tooling, it also gets you access to an onramp for learning scala, clojure, kotlin, other JVM languages.

You might not use the tools immediately but the fact you can debug java stack traces using one of the more "fun" languges certainly doesn't hurt.

Another perspective: if you ever get in to data engineering it's usually a big requirement to know something java related.

Re: Ask HN: Is Java worth learning?

#10
In my opinion, Java is not an enlightening language. In other words, learning Java will not make you a better programmer in other languages. It is only good for getting jobs.

If you do decide to learn it, make sure to use recent educational materials for Java 8+, so you learn how to use advanced features like lambda functions and unsigned integer types.

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