This is probably an unsatisfying answer, but large tech companies (such as Google) generally want to conduct interviews in Java or C++. Python seems to be an o

This is probably an unsatisfying answer, but large tech companies (such as Google) generally want to conduct interviews in Java or C++. Python seems to be an outside option. So for that reason alone, you might want to learn java. On the bright side, if that's what you're using Java for, you might not mind it so much. Academic-leaning data structures and algorithms problems don't require the heavy frameworks that got Java a bad reputation[1], nor do they deal with programming cultures that prefer method names that read like the first 5 chapter titles of the GOF design patterns book. If you need to write code to find a cycle in a linked list, or find the sub matrix with the largest sum, or find a sub tree in a BST, I don't think you'll find Java particularly onerous. [1] I've heard things have improved considerably, and that Java frameworks are now much lighter than they were in the early days of spring, struts, and hibernate.