Java to C++ at Google

Apple / Eng
brownrice

Go to company page Apple Eng

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Amazon
brownrice
Aug 11, 2018 38 Comments

Have been a Java developer all my career. Cleared HC, T5, all the teams I spoke with work on C++. How difficult is the transition? Is it worth it? How is it different in google?

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TOP 38 Comments
  • Intel
    !intel

    Go to company page Intel

    !intel
    You are T5 and afraid to switch languages? Languages have their nuances but it’s really not that different from an engineering perspective.
    Aug 11, 2018 9
    • Oracle
      x(f(r8r8sl

      Go to company page Oracle

      x(f(r8r8sl
      No it can't apply to assembly.
      Aug 12, 2018
    • Amazon
      LoanerBadg

      Go to company page Amazon

      LoanerBadg
      ^ A solid engineer should understand assembly, memory allocation, pointers etc.. That doesn't mean that you need to write all your code in assembly. Use the tool / coding language that's right for the job and is most efficient.

      Basically understanding low level primitive and exclusively working with them are different.
      Aug 12, 2018
  • It's a different mindset. You get more control over memory but with it comes great responsibility. You will do fine if you are willing to learn and suffer the occasional embarrassment of a crash or a leak as you master c++
    Aug 11, 2018 7
  • VMware / Eng
    tyxS31

    Go to company page VMware Eng

    PRE
    Microsoft, Hulu
    tyxS31
    Life is too short to deal with C++ crap
    Aug 11, 2018 0
  • Netflix
    Underdoggy

    Go to company page Netflix

    Underdoggy
    Throughout my career, the most talented engineers I have seen were C++ experts. They understand how computers work and how resources should be managed. If your goal is creating a high performance software, C++ is the best choice. I got little bit fed up with JAVA...but frustrated that there are not good alternatives in distributed env.. not because java is excellent technically but because java engineers are easier to find..
    Aug 11, 2018 2
    • This πŸ‘

      My rule of thumb: if you are worrying about memory pressure and figuring out when to invoke GC, you really should be managing your own memory. Life will be simpler and more predictable if you do core Mem MGMT in c++
      Aug 11, 2018
    • Google
      Noogler69

      Go to company page Google

      Noogler69
      What do you think of C++ projects that build their own garbage collectors (e.g. the Blink rendering engine used by Chrome)?
      Aug 12, 2018
  • Facebook
    πŸ’–β€οΈπŸ’“πŸ’”

    Go to company page Facebook

    πŸ’–β€οΈπŸ’“πŸ’”
    I did this. 2 years with Java in finance, then 2 years of C++ in search.

    It was fine. Yeah I spent a few days debugging a segfault caused by storing a pointer to a vector element, but overall there was little practical difference.
    Aug 11, 2018 0