Python vs. Java: What’s the Difference?

A succinct comparison with reason and use cases wherever applicable!

Python and Java are both general-purpose programming languages that are widely used in a variety of industries. Here is a very simple explanation of its (1) features, (2) functionalities, and (3) applications in real life. Let’s have a look.

What is Python programming language?

Python is a general-purpose programming language that's used for (1) web development, (2) software development, (3) data science, (4) machine learning, and more. It's popular because it's (1) efficient, (2) easy to learn, and (3) can run on many different platforms. Python has a simple syntax that's similar to English, and uses indentation to define scope.

What is Java programming language?

Java is a (1) high-level, (2) class-based, (3) object-oriented programming language, and also (4) general purpose programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible.

Why should we compare Python from Java?

First of all, Java is an older counterpart that baselines all Android App Development efforts. Python, Flutter, Kotlin followed, but they could not match the verbose context, and the syntax that Java lays. All newer programming languages including Python are easier to understand, study, learn and use, but Java has to be learn before using any of these. Later down the line, you might stumble upon legacy Java code, and if the app needs an upgrade, you might have to fit in Python code to scale it up with some new modules. 

Differences: Python vs. Java

On the basis of speed: Python is slower than Java because its syntax is read line by line. It is interpreted while Java syntax is read as a whole chunk which makes it faster. Java programs still run faster, irrespective of its legacy syntax, and adjoining complexities. But the speed depends upon specific tasks. The reason for this is that Java is a compiled language. It features a Just in Time (JIT) compiler. It has a garbage collector. It is platform agnostic. Plus, it focusses on performance, has a large ecosystem of libraries and tools, and is widely used to make enterprise applications.   

On the basis of syntax: Python has a simpler syntax than Java because its code is concise and easier to read.

On the basis of typing: Python is dynamically typed while Java is statically typed. This means that there is no need to declare the variables at the beginning of a Python program.

On the basis of libraries: Python has more libraries than Java.

Platform: On the basis of Platform Independence: Java can be used on any integrated development environment (IDE). But the answer to (1) Can Java be used for web development? (2) Can Java be used for frontend? (3) Can Java be used for machine learning? (4) Can Java be used for app development? (5) Can Java be used for data science? (6) Can Java be used for mobile app development? (7) Can Java be used for game development? (8) Can Java be used for artificial Intelligence - is yes! Java can do all this and more. The best IDE's for Java development are (1) IntelliJ IDE, (2) Eclipse, (3) BlueJ, (4) NetBeans, (5) JDeveloper, and (6) JCreator.  There are more not so popular ones like: (7) DRJava, (8) JGrasp, (9) Jedit, (10) Myeclipse.

Alternatively, the answer to (1) Can Python be used for web development? (2) Can Python be used for app development?, (3) Can Python be used for frontend? (4) Can Python be used for backend? (5) Can Python be used for mobile app development? (6) Can Python be used for game development? (7) Can Python be used for Android App Development? (8) Can Python be used for automation?, (9) Can Python be used for embedded systems?

There are many more comparable like Java not in (1) operators, (2) if conditions, (3) path, (4) string, (5) index, (6) environment variables, (7) dictionary, (8) set; Python not in (1) array, (2) program files, (3) control panel, (5) gzip format, (6) path, (7) library mac, (8) system preferences mac, (9) mac;   

Memory Usage: Java is more memory efficient than Python because it is statistically typed - variable declaration is required in the beginning of the program, which subsequently removes the null pointer errors and optimizes memory usage by allocating the correct amount of memory for each variable. Python does not require to do that. But Python makes use of garbage collector to automatically free up memory that is no longer used by the program. But garbage collector can sometimes be inefficient, which can lead to Python programs using more memory than Java programs. Some factors that affect memory usage of Python and Java programs: (1) The size of the program, (2) The number of objects created, (3) The algorithms used. 

Code Length: Python code is comparatively shorter in length than Java code. This is because Python's use of indentation acts as block delimiter. It makes use of high - level data types, and features dynamic typing.

Readability: Another reason why any Python development company is becoming popular is because its code is more readable than Java code owing to its simpler syntax, use of whitespaces, proper indentation, and use of code blocks. Instead, Java code is verbose (tough) to comprehend. It makes use of curly braces, semicolons, parentheses to define code blocks that makes it difficult to understand. But, readability is also subjective and totally depends upon the programmer's or non-programmer's familiarity with the programming language. Some programmers may find Java code more readable than Python code, but you should try both to conclude which one serves your purpose. 

Ease of Learning: Summing it up quickly, Python's syntax is simpler. It is dynamically typed where you do not need to declare data types in the beginning of the program. It has large number of libraries which can be used to do (1) web development, (2) data science, (3) machine learning; Java is complex because of (1) Static typing, (2) object oriented programming (which is difficult for beginners), (3) Verbose (Java code is longer than Python code). All of this makes Java difficult to read and understand.

Performance: In Python data types and variables are not known until runtime, so it is not possible to optimize its code, leading to slower performance. Interpreting one line at a time takes time. Garbage collection is not automatic. All these points are in favor of Java, leading to higher performance. This is the reason why any Java application development company opts for developing (1) Scientific applications like NumPy and SciPy, (2) Big data processing like Hadoop and Spark, (3) Enterprise applications like SAP and Oracle.

Portability: Both Java and Python are portable which implies that Java code can be compiled into a universal bytecode, which can be executed across devices with the help of Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Concurrency: Java features threads, synchronization, rich concurrency API - all makes it easier to write concurrent Java applications. This is use in making applications like (1) Web servers, (2) Application servers, (3) Databases, (4) Real-time systems. All this is possible because Java has (1) built-in thread capabilities, (2) synchronization mechanisms, and (3) concurrency API.

Community and Support: Due to the presence of many libraries, tools and frameworks, both Python and Java are popular web development platforms. They have active community of developers and contributors, and youngsters are engaging enthusiastically.

Which language is more versatile and popular?

Python has recently become more popular than Java, especially in the field of data science.

There are a few reasons for this.

First, Python is a relatively easy language to learn, making it a good choice for people who are new to programming.

Second, Python has a large and active community of developers, which means that there are many resources available to help people learn and use the language.

Third, Python is well-suited for data science tasks such as data wrangling, data analysis, and machine learning.

Java is also a powerful language, but it is more complex than Python and can be more difficult to learn. Java is also not as well-suited for data science tasks as Python.

As a result of these factors, Python has become the more popular language for data science. This has led to an increase in the demand for Python developers, which is why there are more job opportunities for Python developers than Java developers.

In addition to data science, Python is also widely used in (1) web development, (2) machine learning, and (3) artificial intelligence. Java is also used in these fields, but it is not as popular as Python.

Use of Python is growing in the field of data science. This is due to a number of factors, including (1) Python's ease of use, (2) large community of developers, and (3) suitability for data science tasks.

As a result of this popularity, there are more job opportunities for Python developers than Java developers in web development services.