Wow this is pretty cool! I'm gonna give a try.
For me, this is actually what most of my slack usage is. Just writing notes to myself and then occasionally messaging others.
What is the memory-safe subset of Java? Java is memory safe by definition. Sadly, the definition might not give people what they want, which is bug-free code.
High speed fiance is mostly done in Java and Haskell, because mistakes are expensive. (And yeah, it's one of the very few fields that Haskell enters the list.)
Grew up on C++ and the paradigm (& loved it), but then moved to interpreted for use cases.
I think the uncoolness of them is due to OOP methodology... programmers today seem to want to be easier to get moving, but then spend more time debugging OR the debugging has been "placed onto" DevOps / use of Cheap fast hardware. IMHO
I'd say just try it out and see how you feel. If you feel defeated and discouraged, then that's the end of it :) However, if you feel motivated to get better results, then you'll find the info you want easily (esp. how to solve the problem[s] that tripped you up)
IPSC ( https://ipsc.ksp.sk/ ) used to be my favorite until they stopped organizing it :'( - but you can still play with the problems and see how you would rank :)
I would advise against reading a bunch of materials first before you do your first contest -- a lot of those stuff are niche and probably doesn't feel different from leetcode grinding, so only do as much as you feel motivated to read and practice.
I've read this and it gives a pretty good overview of the history as well as current events surrounding the semiconductor industry. I think it gives a good high-level overview so you'll have the foundation to dig deeper.
I don't think that this book by itself would be enough to understand the semiconductor business, but it's a great place to start to get acclimated.
And it's not just needing to buy the ASML machine. There's a ton of proprietary knowhow to actually get it integrated into a fab so that yields are reasonable.
