Java and Python are the most popular programming languages nowadays.  But, both the languages have their specialities and drawbacks. In this article, we will look at different aspects of both the programming languages. In the discussion on Java vs Python, we will also compare the functionalities of both the programming languages to determine the differences. Before that, let us first have a brief overview of both Java and Python.

What is Python Programming language?

Python is an object oriented programming language created by Guido van Rossum in the early 1990s. It was developed to make programming easier for programmers, at the same time making them able to perform complex tasks.

Python is a dynamically typed language with dynamic binding  that makes it useful for rapid app development. It means that you don’t have to declare the datatype of any variable used in the program. It is handled by the python interpreter.  It’s syntax is almost similar to the English language. Having a high readability makes it one of the easiest languages to learn for beginners. If you are new to programming, you can learn python first. It will give you an understanding of programming concepts without worrying much about syntax. Python also supports multi-threading and automatic garbage collection which makes the development of softwares an easy task for you. 

One of the best features I like in python is that it comes with an interactive shell. You can write and execute code snippets in the shell before using them in your actual program. This makes programming easier as you can check the working of every module or function before actually using them in your programs.

In the computer science industry, Python is mostly used by programmers in software development, machine learning, data science,Internet of Things(IoT) etc.

What is Java Programming language?

Java is also an object oriented programming language created by Sun Microsystems few years after the creation of the Python programming language. It is a statically typed programming language with strong typing. Here, you have to declare the data type of every object that you create in the program. It makes your code less error prone while readability is not as good as compared to python. 

Java programs are very portable and you can run the byte code on any system where a Java Virtual machine is installed. It is also an object oriented, multi-threaded language with automatic garbage collection. This allows you to write programs with very high efficiency. 

Java is considered to be one of the best programming languages and is being used widely in various tasks such as development of android applications,server side programs, REST APIs, etc . On the other hand, when you use Just in Time (JIT) compilers to run java programs, it becomes very inefficient. Another drawback for Java is that it requires a large amount of computing resources.

As we have an overview of both the programming languages, let us compare their functionalities to find the answers to the debate of Java vs Python.

Java vs Python: Comparison

1. The first difference between Python and Java is that Java is statically typed and requires you to define the data type of every variable that has to be used in the program. On the other hand, Python determines the data type of variables during the time of execution of the program and you don’t need to specify the data types of the variables.
2. The second difference between Python and and Java is that Java uses curly braces “{}” for indentation in the source code while python uses spaces for indentation.
3. Java is a compiled language while python is an interpreted language.
4. Being a compiled language, Java programs run faster than Python programs for the same logic as python programs are interpreted. 
5. Collections objects in Python and Java work very differently. You can keep objects of any data type in a collection object in Python. On the other hand, Java requires you to specify the data type of the objects that will be kept in the container while defining the container object. 
6. Python codes are very concise and you need to write very few lines of code in python to do the same task that may require double or triple lines of code in Java.
7. Python and Java, both are used in developing back-end applications in web development. Java offers frameworks like Spring Boot whereas python has Django and Flask as its popular frameworks for web development.
8. Python is one of the most popular languages for machine learning and offers frameworks such as Keras, TenserFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, Seaborn, etc with which you can create machine learning applications in a seamless manner. Although not very popular,  Java is also being used for developing machine learning applications. Java offers you libraries like Deeplearning4, Mallet, and Weka for machine learning.
9. Java provides a good connection between applications whereas Python does not provide a stable connection between the applications.
10. Java has a very good database access layer with frameworks like JDBC and Hibernate. On the other hand, Python lacks efficient tools for database access. 

Suggested Reading: C Sharp and Sequel Programming Languages

Concluding the Debate of Java vs Python

By now, You have already looked at various aspects of both the languages. Both the languages have their specialties and drawbacks. If you are a beginner and you just want to learn to code, I would advise you to learn python.

If you have already  worked with an imperative language like C and you are trying to learn an object oriented language, I would suggest you learn Java as it has a syntax almost similar to C. Also, Java has strong syntax and typing rules that make you able to write error free code with a good efficiency. 

If you are an experienced programmer and you are looking for a programming language to learn machine learning or data science, you should choose Python. On the other hand, If you want to develop android applications or REST APIs, I would suggest you to go with Java. 

The last comment I would make is that Python is a Swiss Army Knife, you can do almost everything with it. On the other hand Java is good only for certain purposes. So, choose the programming language you want to learn according to your need and keep hustling.

Hope you enjoyed this blog and have got an answer to the Java vs Python Debate. Stay tuned for more informative articles.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.