The Language-Exposed: Java vs Python - A Duel Between Giants

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It’s been quite a long time since I have shared with you a new article in the X-Exposed series. If this is the first time you read my articles in this series, please head to this post to know more about it. Here we go!?

Tonight’s interview is the first of its kind because we are having TWO GUESTS at once! We are pleased to bring you an interview with Java and Python, two of the most powerful programming languages out there. We wanted to interview them together so we could reveal which one is better than the other since Java and Python have always been in a race to dominate the programming landscape.

And like in any fierce battle, I’d better not be on the battlefield. So, I’ll let our guests conduct the interview themselves. So without further ado, let’s start the interview: The Language-Exposed

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• Java: So, you’re the other guy I’ve been hearing about. I have to say I don’t see why you’re here. I figured I’d get stuck with someone boring like JavaScript.
• Python: Nope, it’s me, although be careful – you and JavaScript are related,- aren’t you?
• Java: HAHAHA, I was just kidding! But seriously what are you doing here?
• Python: Well, I came to prove to the world that I’m the best programming language.
• Java: Yeah, yeah keep living your pipe dreams brother. You act like you’re a very important language.
• Python: I’m clearly the best choice for most programmers. I’m easier to understand, and to write, much more than old Java over there.
• Java: Excuse me? Who are you calling “old”? I think you forgot that you are older than me. I wasn’t even around until later. I was INVENTED because so many programmers wanted me.
• Python: Nope, programmers are just doing fine without you.
• Java: Look, I’m a solid object-oriented (OO) language from the ground up. This allows developers to write robust and scalable code. Not to mention, all the amazing features at my disposal such as memory management, platform independence, JVM, an exceptionally good ecosystem, and super-quality libraries!
• Python: Did you just say libraries?! Installing libraries in java is just a nightmare whereas in python everything is straightforward. You could literally install an entire framework with a simple pip command.
• Java: You kind of got me there.
• Python: No offense meant, but aren’t you kind of a verbose language? I mean your purpose is to help people write code easily and quickly, not to torture them with unnecessary syntax!
• Java: Verbose? I’d call it elegance. My syntax help coders write clean and maintainable code. What’s more, with newer versions of me that are more compact, calling me verbose is nonsense.
• Python: Not to rub it in, but brother, you really need to expand your worldview. People no longer care about those so-called programming patterns. All we care about is the final output.
• Java: I’ve been at the head of this business for over two decades and you think you can come along like you know something. A little wet behind the ears, aren’t you?
• Python: Sure, you’ve enjoyed your golden days, but those days are gone.
• Java: Do you have any idea how many programs I’m used on? Ever looked at your stats?
• Python: Yeah, I did, and there are very promising for me. I’m catching up fast.
• Java: HAHAHAHA python is catching up with java!! You’re not even close brother. I think you forgot the days when you were living in darkness.
• Python: Sure, my creators made some mistakes in the past, but I was built from all the experience gained from my mistakes. Well, I’m not sure I am supposed to mention this in public, but you are declining according to the latest stats.
• Java: Hey watch your words, I’m everywhere! You’ll find me in desktop, mobile, and web apps.
• Python: Oh yeah? How so? I don’t get it.
• Java: Well, let me elaborate; for web development and microservices you’ve got Spring and all its ecosystem. You want database persistence? I have Hibernate. You want a desktop app; you can use JavaFX. You want a mobile app? I have been used in android development for years.?Look at the huge ecosystem of spring/JBoss/wildfly, JEE, play framework, and numerous other frameworks; does it feel like I’m outdated!?
• Python: Hey, come on, I can do most of those things too. If you have Spring, I have Django which is a powerful web framework. For desktop apps, I have a wide range of GUI libraries like Tkinter and Kivy. And if the rumors are true, Google is now shifting from java to Kotlin for android app development.
• Java: I have to admit, Kotlin is gaining momentum recently. How about you? People don’t even know what to make of you.
• Python: Are you kidding me? I’m the gold standard language in data science, machine learning, big data, and automation (Though sometimes, I get bothered by R and Julia). And you know why data scientists and machine learning engineers love me. Because I make things easy unlike some people.
• Java: Make no mistake, when it comes to data, some of the credits going to you should be going to me.
• Python: Now that’s hard to believe. Go on…
• Java: Don’t you know that a large number of?major big data?tools like?Hadoop?and Spark are based on?Java?code. All that stuff is built thanks to me. In addition to that, there are plenty of machine learning models and data science libraries available in java.
• Python: Big whoop. I don’t believe you. I am sure nobody is using what you are talking about.
• Java: I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
• Python: I’m glad we didn’t get into a fight. That would have been too childish.
• Java: Yep. So, I guess I’ll see you around.
• Python: Alright, see you soon!

That’s it for tonight’s interview. I’m glad it ended peacefully.

As a former Java programmer, now I use python most of the time, especially for data science and machine learning, but it is possible that I would move back to java. As a result, I might be a bit biased when I was writing this article.

What I have learned from this switch, is that you should never marry a programming language or a framework. Sometimes you just have to use other technologies to get the work done efficiently.