Python vs Java - Who Will Win the Battle in 2020? - GeeksforGeeks

18 Jul, 2020
Forget about the programming for a moment and let’s talk about the car...Which is best, a Tesla or a Lamborghini? Some people like Tesla, some are comfortable with Lamborghini for some people none of them is useful (because they don’t have budget....just kidding!) for others, it’s not fair to compare both of them. Now come to the programming languages.
Which is best, Java or a Python?
If you are one of them who is completely taking the favor of one language and looking out for the right answer then you will be disappointed while reading this blog.
Computer languages are sometimes taken (oftentimes by novice users) as a religion – so one may swear by Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, or some other language. The reality is that out of the major programming languages, each seemed to have found a “sweet spot” – an area or domain where it shines, compared with others. So instead of fighting over the question that which one is best- Java or Python? we will help you in figure out which one should I choose- Java or Python?
A lot of programmers are confused about making the decision whose impact is going to be long-lasting and is going to shape their career in many ways. What if they choose java and later Python goes up or what if they choose Python and later java becomes more popular. Now to clear off the initial air of confusion let’s start with some surveys...
Important Stats:
According to Tiobe Index, Java has been given more preference with 16.61% and Python has managed to grab the 3rd spot with 9.874% based on performance, coding capabilities, and popularity.
As per Statista, around a fifth of Google searches for the most popular programming languages were for Java in 2019 that holds second place in the list after Python.
If we check Google Trends worldwide for both the languages then there is a very slight difference between Java and Python.
We know that after checking the surveys you are still confused about making the decision so we are going to take one more step considering some factors that may help you in making a decision. First of all, remember that all the languages are essentially the same, and all languages can more or less do the same thing in some way or the other. If Python has some advantages then it also has some disadvantages and the same goes for Java. Let’s see some factors and key differences for both of the languages...
Firstly let’s take a look at Java syntax to add two numbers...
class AddNums(){    public static void main(String args[])    {        int first = 1;        int second = 2;        int sum = first + second;        System.out.println(sum);    }}
Now let’s see how to write the same code in Python...
first = 1second = 2sum = first + secondprint(sum)
Python is a dynamically typed programming language which means there is no necessity of declaring variables whereas java is a statically typed programming language which means you need to declare the variables explicitly. From the above code, you can see that Python syntax is fairly easy to learn so good for novice programmers but we need to mention that Python hides many internal details from programmers compared to Java. For example, in the above code of Python, it’s not mentioned that variables first and second are integers so you won’t be able to know what’s going under the hood.Well, if you aren’t a computer science student, or are not interested in computer science fundamentals but need a programming language to get something done then go for Python. Another side if you are one of them who cares about the core CS concepts (or computer science students) then go for Java. In the end, all we can say is Python gets things done. Java guides you during it.
In development employers really care about the performance or speed of the application. Java comes with Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and so it is a compiled language and takes lesser time for code execution. On the other hand, Python is an interpreted language and determines the type of data at run time which makes it slower comparatively. Therefore, for the development of heavy applications, preference, of course, is given to Java. Here we also need to mention that developers can speed up the execution of Python code with the use of PyPy, CPython or Cython. They can use Jython to compile the Python code into Java bytecode, and Cython to compile the Python code into C/C++ code.
In development, it’s really important to have huge community support for a language. You can build some tools and allow others to use that. You can also get the solution or advice for coding related problems or issues from the programmer’s community. Java and Python both enjoy great community support. You will encounter tons of resources, forums, and books to help with your learning for both of the languages. You can also get huge support from GitHub and StackOverflow.
Java is a product of Oracle and so its convention Oracle Code One, JavaWorld, and JavaRanch have contributed to its widespread popularity in software development. There are several Java User Groups (JUGs) across the globe. Also, various high-profile events like JavaOne organized by Java programmers.
Python has a strong community of over 1, 637 Python user groups in around 37 countries and 191 cities. PySlackers, the PyCon convention, PyLadies, and the FreeNode IRC Python channels have contributed to its popularity and diversity of programmers. Check out their community support from the link Python Community.
You might have heard that Java is everywhere. This language is used for both android applications and web applications. Most of the complex programs are usually written in Java and that is the reason it is good to build large scale applications. Java is good for Desktop apps, Embedded applications, Data processing apps, Mobile, and web apps and Enterprise-level solutions. A wide range of libraries and frameworks are also available to add new functionality to your app or program.
Python is especially popular among mathematicians and physicists. It is widely used in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and the general overarching AI field. This language is very useful in data analysis and visualization. Python is also used in web development or backend development using some popular frameworks such as Django, Tornado, Flask or CherryPy to use in web apps. Python is also used in IoT, games, prototypes, graphic design apps and it is often used by system administrators to automate tasks. Python libraries are very useful in research and computation. Mobile development in Python is less popular.
A lot of big companies are using Java for their large application or enterprise-level solutions. Java is also widely used in Android application so it’s high in demand in the job market. Top companies like Uber, Airbnb, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, Linkedin, and many others use Java in their tech stack. This means that finding a job as a Java developer is relatively easy. Take a look at StackOverflow for Java developer’s jobs.
Average salary of Java Developer on Glassdoor is 4, 40, 049 Rs./Yr in India.
Instagram front-end for iOS is written in Objective-C, and the back-end is written in Python. Some other big companies like Google, Spotify, Netflix, Uber, Dropbox, Reddit, and Pinterest using Python in their tech stack however we need to mention that Python is not used heavily in big companies for enterprise software development.Python is widely used by a lot of startups for building web applications and it is also popular among data scientists. You have plenty of job opportunities to enter in various application areas of Python.Take a look at StackOverflow for Python developer’s jobs.
Average salary of Python Developer on Glassdoor is 4, 00, 000 Rs./Yr in India.
Python has surpassed Java as the top language used to introduce U.S. students to programming and computer science, according to a recent survey posted by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Eight of the top 10 computer science departments now use Python to teach coding, as well as 27 of the top 39 schools, indicating that it is the most popular language for teaching introductory computer science courses. Java is frequently used in high school advanced courses, so the transition to Java in college is a natural one for students. A number of universities, however, have switched to Python from Java, and others offer both — Java for computer science students and Python to teach programming skills for noncomputer science majors.
We have discussed all the stats and we have also discussed the major factors still if you are confused and asking yourself...what should I actually choose? then you need to ask one more question to yourself...“What’s my end goal?” or “Which language do I need as per my current requirements?” Yes...don’t learn a language just for the sake of its popularity or some programmers have suggested to you. Understand that there is no best programming language. Every language fits in a specific area, every language has it’s own pros and cons and the same goes for Python and Java as well.
First of all, decide what actually you want to do with your language?. Do you want to build a mobile application or a web application? Do you want to enter data science or machine learning or you have some plans to enter in game development?. How scalable your application would be? what speed do you expect from your application? what’s the budget of the company? and a lot of factors like that you need to consider. Choosing a language isn’t about it being easy or hard, it’s about how you see coding as a whole. If you’re happy coding, you’ll see it positively and won’t be afraid to try new things.
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