According to
the most recent study, Java is currently more popular than other programming
languages including Python. Likewise, according to the latest usage statistics
posted on a popular Technology Survey site, Java is being used by 3.0% websites
as a server-side programming language, whereas only 0.2% of websites use
Python. However, many reports have highlighted that the usage and popularity of
Python is growing consistently. So it becomes essential for programmers to
understand some of the major differences between these two popular programming
languages.
Understanding
Important Differences between Java and Python
Both Java and
Python are general purpose programming languages. While the former is a
statically typed language wherein the programmers have to declare all variable
names explicitly, the latter is looked upon as a dynamically typed language
where developers are not required to declare variable names explicitly.
Java requires
developers to write longer lines of code to accomplish common programming
tasks. They also have to put in additional time and effort to organize,
maintain and update the Java code base. On the other hand, syntax of Python
enables developers to express concepts without writing longer lines of code. It
further emphasizes on reusable and readable code generation. Thus, it becomes
easier for programmers to maintain and update the code base.
Both the
languages have been updated on a regular basis. The programmers can use Java 8
to avail a number of new features including lambda expressions, a new date/time
API and a new functional interface. They can further switch from version 7 to
version 8 of the programming language without any hassle. But developers often
find it daunting to choose between Python 2.x and Python 3.x. Both the versions
are being maintained in parallel and hence switching from Python 2.x to Python
3.x is found to be challenging.
Java makes it
easier for programmers to create portable cross-platform applications. These
applications can run on any device on which Java virtual machine (JVM) is
running. On the other hand, the developers have to use a Python compiler to
convert the code written in Python into code understandable by the specific
operating system. As JVM is installed on many devices, the developers can run
Java applications on various devices without requiring any specialized tools
and compilers.
The performance
and speed of the two programming languages differ. Many programmers have proved
that Java is faster than Python. While it cannot be used to accomplish
CPU-intensive tasks, developers often have at their disposal, a number of
options to enhance the execution speed of Python. They have to replace Python's
default runtime with CPython, PyPy or Cython to increase the execution speed
significantly. On the other hand, the performance of the Java application can
be easily optimized without using any additional tools.
Along with
being a popular web technology, Java is also used widely for developing apps
for world's most popular mobile operating system, i.e., Android. The Android
SDK includes a number of standard Java libraries. The developers can easily
create Android apps by taking advantage of networking, data structure,
graphics, and math libraries. They can even avail a number of tools and
frameworks to speed up Android app development. But those into Python
development know that it cannot be used for mobile app development directly and
exclusively. The developers have to use additional frameworks and tools to use
it for mobile app development. Many programmers prefer developing mobile apps
with Java to save both time and effort.
A number of
reports have highlighted a steady increase in the popularity of JVM based
languages like Scala. The modern age JVM languages are designed with features
to help programmers to write concise, reusable and maintainable code within a
shorter amount of time. Many programmers prefer these JVM languages to Java to
reduce the amount of time and efforts required for building and maintaining a
variety of modern applications.
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