When it comes to web application development, one of the most pivotal things to do is to select the programming language for the project. It is one of the most crucial things to consider to make the whole project smooth and streamlined. Generally, developers assigned to the project choose the programming language, but sometimes, clients too want a specific language for a specific project.
For developers, it has always been a dilemma between python Vs Java as both languages have their advantages and disadvantages. However, most often than not, programmers choose one of the two languages for easy, effective and superlative web application development.
In this article, we will discuss Java vs. Python comparison and their pros and cons to getting a better insight on which language to prefer for web application development.
First of all, let's check some facts. As per the Annual Octoverse report by GitHub, Java and Python are the second and third highest used programming languages across the globe since last four years. However, the report also suggests that python is one of the fastest-growing programming languages and most of the beginners prefer python over java for new projects.
Also, as per the report by TIOBE Index, java secures the first rank next to Python as the third one.
As per the Digital Ocean's Survey, python secures 2nd and Java the 4th for the open-source projects.
Don't you have a clear dilemma now? If you are just starting a new project and you are in a clear dilemma for the language in which you want to develop your project, this piece of writing is for you.
Java
Java was conceptualised to function on a principle of WORA (write once run everywhere). It is a statically typed object-oriented programming language that is also concurrent too. With the help of Java Virtual Machine, Java can run on any given platform with very few dependencies. It has a C, C++ type syntax that is most familiar among the programmers, especially experienced programmers. It can run dynamically, but cannot be typed dynamically.
Python
Python is relatively older than Java and was founded in 1991 by Guido Van Rossum and since then, it has got a cult following among developers across the globe due to some astonishing features and functionalities it offers to them. It is a dynamically typed, open-source programming language that has automatic memory management and is considered as a higher-level programming language. The syntax of python was inspired by different languages such as Algol68, Pascal and ABC. Python web development is relatively easy and quick compared to other programming languages.
Now, let's check a few of the key comparisons between Python and Java.
Performance and Speed
When you have to check python vs. Java performance, Java scores high as it is a compiled language and the total time it takes to execute code is relatively smaller than Python. Python, being an interpreted programming language, it checks the data type at run time and the whole process takes some time, making it slower.
However, you need to consider here that performance and Speed are not the only key parameters to check while choosing a programming language for a project. Whether you go for Java development or Python, you need to check other factors too such as online community support and availability of libraries.
Popularity
When it comes to popularity, both the languages score high and somehow equal. Since many years, python and Java have retained their positions from 1 to 3 among other languages. Some reports suggest Python as the best programming language and some prefer Java. However, position differences between python and Java can be neglected as they both fall into the same category when it comes to popularity.
Code
One of the most significant factors that developers look in a programming language is ease of coding and clearly, Python performs better than Java here. Java is, somehow, verbose language and it might take 10 lines of code to read.
On the other hand, Python scores high in this department as it takes only 2 lines of code. Developers prefer this programming language due to this very reason.
Practical Agility
When it comes to practical agility, Java is more used for mobile and web applications due to its static type system and availability of IDEs. However, Python is mostly used in machine learning applications, artificial intelligence and internet of things applications due to its dynamic features and functionalities.
When it comes to game development, users always expect a seamless experience and superior performance. Both python and Java are not slow and that is the reason, both of them are not suitable for game development. JMonkeyEngine is popular game development with Java, but it is not used by the developers as Unity and Unreal are already available with them. Similarly, some of the game engines for python are Cocos, Panda3D and Pygame.
Web Development
When it comes to web development, both Java and Python are preferred by developers, especially for backend web development.
Thanks to the web frameworks available with both the languages, backend development are fun and easy. With such frameworks, you don't need to develop backend from scratch as they allow you to build the backend easily and with design requirements such as security, reliability and efficiency.
Syntax
Python wins here due to its dynamical system. Python is typed dynamically and this is the reason the developers don't need to decide the variable types. It is the job of the interpreter to infer these types and during the runtime, the checks will happen. Also, for beginners, it is very easy to learn as it does not use enclosing and braces.
On the other hand, Java is typed statically and developers have to determine the variable types initially and without it, the codes cannot be compiled. Here too, it is dependent on the developers working on the project. Some developers love such statically typed language and some might not like to follow those indentation rules, especially beginners as these rules are complex and require expertise to understand.
Conclusion
When it comes to Python vs Java comparison, no one wins the game here as both are the superior language for web application development. Here, the thing that you need to consider is the project, its requirements and expectations. The nature of the project will tell you which language to use for web development.
Het Shah
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