- Java vs Python
- 02 Jun 2008 06:05:25 pm
- Last edited by bfr on 02 Jun 2008 06:36:41 pm; edited 2 times in total
There has been some debate between Java and Python recently here at Cemetech, and it's also been briefly debated in the past as well. I just wanted to make an organized thread for this.
This isn't just a pointless boring argument - as I said before, this topic has been brought up before, so it's apparently at least interesting. Also, this topic could be useful for people who are not sure which language to start programming, or who currently program with one language but could have their eyes opened to another.
I don't really know much about either language, but I have tried both (I've programmed in Java more than Python though).
I think Java is...OK. It can take an annoyingly long time to compile simple Java programs (which still end up having to be interpreted anyway), and it seems like I have to create a certain slightly time-consuming organization for my code (like how the program itself is a class), but in a large scale, this might be helpful. I also find it annoying to have be importing classes and stuff all of the time (I think I have to import stuff in Python too at times, but it seems like I have to import more things in Java). I think Java applets are kind of cool, though.
Also, probably part of the reason why so many people like and stick to Java is because that's what's taught in schools (which would probably mean it's the first language many people are exposed to). People don't want to feel like what they were learning was in any way a waste of time (not to say that it IS in fact a complete waste of time), and they can justify that by saying, "well, why do they teach it in schools."
Python seems pretty cool, but then again, I haven't programmed with it much. It particularly seems more flexible and clean, resulting in less code (this might also lead to sloppier code and poor organization over time, but I still like the flexibility).
In terms of speed, I'd think that Java would generally be faster, especially large and complex applications, because it's compiled, but I'm not sure how true this is.
Again, I don't know much about either of these languages, but that's just what I think of them so far.
What do you all think of them and which do you prefer?
This isn't just a pointless boring argument - as I said before, this topic has been brought up before, so it's apparently at least interesting. Also, this topic could be useful for people who are not sure which language to start programming, or who currently program with one language but could have their eyes opened to another.
I don't really know much about either language, but I have tried both (I've programmed in Java more than Python though).
I think Java is...OK. It can take an annoyingly long time to compile simple Java programs (which still end up having to be interpreted anyway), and it seems like I have to create a certain slightly time-consuming organization for my code (like how the program itself is a class), but in a large scale, this might be helpful. I also find it annoying to have be importing classes and stuff all of the time (I think I have to import stuff in Python too at times, but it seems like I have to import more things in Java). I think Java applets are kind of cool, though.
Also, probably part of the reason why so many people like and stick to Java is because that's what's taught in schools (which would probably mean it's the first language many people are exposed to). People don't want to feel like what they were learning was in any way a waste of time (not to say that it IS in fact a complete waste of time), and they can justify that by saying, "well, why do they teach it in schools."
Python seems pretty cool, but then again, I haven't programmed with it much. It particularly seems more flexible and clean, resulting in less code (this might also lead to sloppier code and poor organization over time, but I still like the flexibility).
In terms of speed, I'd think that Java would generally be faster, especially large and complex applications, because it's compiled, but I'm not sure how true this is.
Again, I don't know much about either of these languages, but that's just what I think of them so far.
What do you all think of them and which do you prefer?