Java vs Python - Which Programming Language Should Programmer Learn First?

Java and Python are two of the most popular and influential programming language of the present time. Beginner programmer often get confused, one of the most frequently asked questions is should I learn Java or Python? Is Python is an excellent programming language to start with? Which programming language would you recommend for beginners to learn first etc.? Since I am a Java developer, my opinion is biased, I will always suggest you start with Java and then learn Python, but if you ask this question to a Python developer, you might get just opposite answer. I have well documented my reasons as to Why Java is the best Programming language and Why a programmer should learn Java. One of the most important reasons you would see in that blog post is an active Java community, which will help you throughout your Java career.

You can ask some beginner stuff starting from how to set PATH and classpath to advanced material about debugging Java program in Eclipse, no matter what kind of question is, there is always someone is Java community, who is ready to answer and help you.

This is one of the reasons that StackOverflow is full of Java questions. By the way, Python is not a spring chicken anymore, it has fully grown and given stiff competition to mainstream languages like Java and C++.

When I first come across Python, I thought it's a scripting language, but that is an understatement. You can do object-oriented programming in Python as well. It's also used heavily in web development sites like Reddit are build using Python and machine learning, and data science makes Python even more useful.

On beginners point of view, I always suggest pick a language which is easier to learn, powerful to attract you and have strong community support, now both Java and Python fits this bill, and until you do some excellent comparative analysis, you can not decide which language to learn from Java vs. Python.

Thankfully, we have an infographic, which highlights some vital difference between Python and Java, I am sure after taking a look on this Infographic, you will be able to decide which is the right programming language to start with.

If you already made up your mind to go with Java, then The Complete Java Masterclass  course by Tim Buchalaka on Udemy is an excellent course to start with. It's not only the most up-to-date course and covers the latest Java features from recent releases but also the most comprehensive and well-structured course which makes learning way easy.

Python vs. Java - Infographic

Being two different programming languages, Java and Python can be useful tools for modern developers for developing applications.

Before learning any programming language, it is a must to know the difference between them.

It could be wrong to declare that Java can be less productive compared to Python due to numerous elements.

Let’s go through this infographics to learn some differences:

Infographic Via Perception System

From this Infographic, you can easily see that Java is very verbose than Python. It takes 10 lines of code to read from a file in Java, while it only takes 2 lines of code in Python. This point goes towards Python because beginner programmer definitely likes to write less code.

The second point is about the static and dynamic type of variable, In my opinion, you need a strict programming language and compiler to detect silly mistakes made by beginners, In Java, you can not store an integer value in a String variable.

So on this point, my vote goes to Java. Speed, which is a crucial thing on enterprise-level application development, you can see that Java is faster than Python, but do remember that you need to compile and run Java program, while Python doesn't need to be compiled.

Python shell can directly interpret python commands, which means easier for programmers. So now Python and Java are both 2 and 2.

This is an important reason to learn Python for beginners because it just makes it easy to try and learn, and if you choose to learn Python, then The Complete Python Bootcamp  by Jose Portilla on Udemy is an excellent place to start with. It covers Python 3 from scratch.

Things have improved with the introduction of JShell in Java 9, but I still rank Python better in terms of quickly whipping up a script and running.

You can also see that hello world in Java takes more lines than hello world in python. The rest of the examples you can analyze by yourself, but all it comes that both Java and Python are equally capable, no one is lesser than others.

As a Java developer, I can say from my personal experience that you will not regret learning Java and choose it as a career; of course, you can learn Python anytime, and it's suitable for writing small utilities, but Java is Java.

Resources to learn Java and Python

• The Complete Java Masterclass
• The Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python
• The 2020 Java Developer RoadMap
• 10 Things Java Programmers Should Learn in 2020
• 10 Free Courses to learn Python in 2020
• My favorite free courses to learn Java in depth
• Top 5 Websites to Learn Python Coding for FREE
• Core Java Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Cay S. Horstmann
• 10 Books Every Java Developer should read
• Top 10 Udemy Courses to learn Python in 2020
• Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp

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P. S. - If you already know Java Programming then you can also learn Python as your second programming language to expand your skill. The same goes for Python developer, as learning Java can make you a better programmer and teach you how to work in  a complex project.