[PaulHoule]

I started programming in Java when it was in beta and thought it was revolutionary at the time, I was right. Personally I like Java. I think you can improve your quality of life dramatically in most cases by swapping out Eclipse for IntelliJ. You have to make peace with POM files, and find your own answers to boilerplate.

I have always followed the market when it comes to programming languages. I have often started a job without any experience in Language X (like that Java job above) and usually gotten up to speed in 6 months or so.

I had some bad experiences with Python circa 1999 but around 2015 I saw a lot of demand for Python work with some involvement in "data science" -- Python got a lot better. However, Javascript in all it's forms is rolling like a freight train in my environment: I got took off a Python project to move onto a React project then wound up at a small unit of a large company on another react project.

I have spent little time personally w/ Ruby and Go but I think they are competitive. They all have a lot going for them but they are all full of footguns which become increasingly obvious as a system becomes bigger and complex.