Java vs Python: Which is the Best Programming Language for You?

Let’s contrast some instances from Python and Java. To aggregate each line into sets of 50 comma-separated entries in this example, we must open a sizable text file. The Python code is shown below:

def get_symbols(file_name):

    with open(file_name, “r”) as in_file:

        records = []

        count = 0

        symbol_set = “”

        for line in in_file:

            symbol_set = symbol_set + line[:-1] + ‘,’

            count = count + 1

            if count % 50 == 0:

                records.append(symbol_set)

                symbol_set = “”

        symbols.append(symbol_set)

        return records

The Java code is shown here:

List<String> getSymbols(String filename) throws IOException {

  List<String> records = new ArrayList<>();

  try (BufferedReader reader123 = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(filename))) {

    String line;

    int count = 0;

    StringBuilder symbol_set = new StringBuilder();

    while ((line = reader123.readLine()) != null) {

      symbol_set.append(line).append(“,”);

      count++;

      – if ((count % 50) == 0) –

{

        records.add(symbol_set.toString());

        symbol_set.setLength(0);

      }

    }

    records.add(symbol_set.toString());

    return records;

  }

}

On the basis of the preceding instances, let’s dissect the readability components.

• Whitespace

Python’s syntax includes whitespace, but Java doesn’t. Python starts loops and conditional statements with a full colon and utilizes tabs for nesting. Semicolons, parentheses, and curly braces are all used in Java while disregarding whitespace. Debates over which type of coding is simpler to understand, like the static vs. dynamic typing argument, are purely arbitrary. Others claim that while Java has more formatting options, Python code is more condensed and consistent. Coding format arguments are resolved thanks to Python’s usage of whitespace. You are left with no choice except to employ blank lines.

As compared to the Java example, the Python snippet is a few lines less, a difference that quickly accumulates in bigger projects. The absence of closing braces accounts for a large portion of the variance. Nonetheless, Python’s brevity is more profound when compared to Java.

• Clarity

Let’s examine the two languages’ file management systems.

Here’s Python once more:

with open(file_name, “r”) as in_file:

This is Java:

try (BufferedReader reader123 = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(filename))) {

The declaration produces a block in each scenario. As the code leaves the block, the languages close the file resource, which is still in scope. We’re opening a file in Python and reading from it. When the loop hits the end of the file, it stops.

for line in in_file:

Java is more challenging. By giving a FileReader to a BufferedReader, we are opening it. We take in the reader’s lines. After the file ends, it is our obligation to look for null.

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

This merely serves to illustrate how much simpler Python is for managing text files. However, it demonstrates how Java is frequently more verbose than Python. Concise and simple “Pythonic” constructions are more advantageous. Despite the addition of lambdas in Java 8 and try-with-resources in Java 7, Java has improved over the past several years, but it remains a verbose language.

Let’s go back to the first instance.

The Python code once more:

stuff = [“Hello, World!”, “Hi there, Everyone!”, 6]

    for i in stuff:

        print(i)

Here is the Java:

public class Test {

    public static void main(String args[]) {

        String array[] = {“Hi, SLA”, “How, are you?”, “6”};

        for (String i : array) {

          System.out.println(i);

        }

    }

}

Both of these snippets will build and function the way they are. Python will execute a script across the whole file. Java needs a static method called main as its minimum entry point. This function in the class that was supplied to the Java Virtual Machine on the command line is executed by the JVM.

Programming in Python is typically quicker and simpler than programming in Java. Utility applications that manipulate files or retrieve data from online sites are a good example of this.

Use cases

When compared to Java, Python is used in a large number of applications such as machine learning, game development, image processing, graphic designing, language development, operating systems, prototyping, and scientific computing along with popular usage in data analytics. 

Java on the other hand is suitable for developing middleware products, mobile-based applications, enterprise solutions, embedded systems, and desktop GUIs.

Comparison Table of Python and Java