question for the professional developer's

[RichardBens14]

I'm not totally sure this is for this thread but it is coding related so, anyway I've been learning to code, currently in python and taking cs50 course, also dabbled in Java last year, all this is partly for my own uses and also for potential side career, maybe fulltime if things go well, so with that thought i was perusing through some job boards just to see if there were any patterns of developer skills or specialties that are most in demand, generally just try to get an idea of what direction i should focus on besides my own interests to land one of these gig's in the future and was a bit shocked to find about 70% of the boards are saturated with Java developer, sr Java developer, backend developer-must be familiar in Java, so on and so forth...So my question is once I've finished my current classes and am comfortable in python, should i swing back and lean hard into Java? from the stand point of the job boards Java, Python and their associated frameworks seem to be on top, followed by all the C's, just like to get some inside perspective from people already living that life, is Java where the money is currently? if so any ideas as to why, like does the language suit the needs of all these companies, or to do with some of the shady business dealings from oracle I've read about, forcing companies to be locked in? either way from an outside perspective looking at the employment demands it seems like these are the two top languages to be familiar in, scrolling the internet doesn't offer much clarity because every coder/programmer seems to live and die by there favorite language, I'm looking for opinions a little more real world unbiased as much as possible from those doing this for a living

[DylanScotland]

I've got about a decade of professional coding experience.

I find that Java and C# are pretty interchangeable. They are both full fat languages with massive sets of libraries behind them. Takes a bit of effort to switch between them but it's not a ton of effort. I primarily professionally code in C#. If you want to work in the web dev sphere, either is a great place to focus effort

As for Python, dang, it's POWERFUL, but ultimately a lot of that power comes from precompiled binaries often written in some flavor of C. But it's most useful in building pipelines. If you want to work in data sciences (computational biology, any physics/astronomy, most geology/oil/water, etc.) it's a really good tool, but know that there is *very* little money in those fields without a PhD. That being said, if I'm writing something personal and durable that can't be easily done in bash/cmd/ps, I always reach for python.

Ultimately, the best advice is to stay language agnostic. Learn the fundamental concepts of programming: boolean logic, objects/interfaces/inheritance, lambda functions, etc. Then apply those ideas with whatever syntax the language requires. Heck, there are some super cool things being done with Rust and LUA and Go. They all have their strengths and they all have their weaknesses, but never let anyone tell you that one language is better than all others, even PERL has its place... probably.

[MichaelDrew]

As for the shady business dealings from Oracle you mentioned, it's true that some companies may feel locked into using Java due to Oracle's policies. However, Java's popularity is also due to its versatility, reliability, and performance, which make it a solid choice for many companies.
In terms of job boards, they can be a helpful tool for gauging the demand for certain skills, but it's also good to network, attend meetups, and stay active in the coding community to get a more nuanced understanding of the job market.
Lastly, if you're looking for a recruitment solution (https://huntly.ai/) in the IT field, it might be worth checking out specialized platforms or agencies that focus on tech talent. These can often provide more targeted job opportunities and support in your job search.