The Java vs Python battle is not new in the world of programming languages. Both Java and Python are some of the most popular and widely used programming languages in this world. Both languages are general-purpose, object-oriented programming languages, are used for variable purposes, and are backed up by a huge community, and there are many resources available in relation to both of these languages if you wish to learn any or both.
But the question is that if we were to learn both, which language should we learn first? Should it be Java, or should it be Python? Well, the answer to this question may depend on various parameters.
Here, we are going to try to make a clearer picture, so that you can decide which language to learn first so that you can get started early.
Which Language should I learn Java or Python?
First of all, the thing is that you are going to try to learn multiple programming languages, and probably you will learn both the programming languages, like Java and Python both. But, still, it might be a question, if I were to learn both, which should I learn first then?
To answer this question, we need to first ask ourselves, what are we learning in some language? Do we want to learn some language that is easy to learn? Or do we want to learn some language so that we can get started with Machine Learning in an easy way? Or do we want to learn some programming language so that we can write android applications? Well, you need to answer these questions first, and it would clear most of your difficulties in choosing the programming language.
If you want to learn Machine learning, and you have some prior programming experience, you might want to choose to go with python, because its syntax is simple, more readable, easy to learn comparatively, and so on.
On the other hand, if you are trying to move to android application development, and for that, you want to learn some programming language, and you got some prior programming experience, you can simply go with learning java, since it will become easy for you to learn android application development, using java (either you can use Kotlin as well).
The bottom line is that it should be clear to you, that why are we learning some programming language.
If that why is clear, it would be easier for you to make a choice. Otherwise, you can choose to learn any, since many people probably learn both at some point. But the concern is that once you have made a choice and got started with learning some particular language, then it is going to be a pretty long journey, and involve much time and practice, and effort. So, it is necessary to make a wise choice while choosing which one to learn first, Java or Python. Remember that on the basis of some particular parameter, you should not decide what programming language to learn. You need to consider some critical points while making a decision.
So, let’s consider some points, which you might want to consider while deciding which programming language to learn first, between Java and Python.
If you are just getting started with programming
There are many people in this world, who want to learn to program, and they want to get started somehow, but they do not know how to start. If they try to ask someone, in particular, they would mostly get biased opinions based on the past experiences of other people. But they should also know why are they starting to learn some programming language. Because there is no problem if you choose to learn java or python first in the beginning. You can choose any, but there are several other parameters that you might want to consider, before starting to learn any programming language in the beginning.
There is no doubt that python is one of the easiest programming languages to start with, and anyone can get started with learning python. Java is comparatively less simple, but still, one can easily get started with learning Java as well, once the syntax and some concepts are understood. So, if you are just getting started with programming, you can decide to learn any programming language, between Java and Python. But still, only this parameter does not decide the winner between the two languages. There are several other parameters to consider ahead.
There can be some drawbacks if you are starting your journey of programming with python if you are going to learn some other language after learning python, which has comparatively harder syntax and we are required to do many things, it would be quite hard for you to go through it, but this is not necessary that it would happen with anybody, it completely depends on the approach of students.
If you want to learn a simpler programming language
Let’s say that you have got some prior programming experience, and you are already familiar with some programming language like C or C++, and now, you want to learn another programming language, and you are confused between Java and Python. In this case, you would need a concrete answer as to why you are learning another programming language. Now, the thing is that if you want to learn a simpler programming language, in this situation, Python programming language dominates.
The python programming language is very easy to get started and is very simple. You would find python programs much more readable comparatively. The syntax is also very simple to get started.
Along with this, there are many other things, like python is a dynamically typed programming language, which means that we do not need to mention the data types, which is required in Java.
On the other hand, the syntax of a Java program is quite lengthy, but only till you get used to it. So, you can also choose Java to learn first, but there would be a somewhat greater effort in this case. But those efforts are also worth it.
Here, as well, if you choose to learn a simpler programming language, you can choose to go with Python. But again, only this parameter cannot decide the winner. There are some more parameters to be considered yet.
If you wish to learn the most popular programming language in the world
Java and Python, both are very popular programming languages, but the thing is that, if we try to compare these languages in terms of popularity, Python is again dominating here. So, if you are choosing the most popular programming language to learn, you can choose to go with Python, since it is comparatively more popular.
There is a battle going on between these programming languages, for the most popular programming language in the world. The thing is that this parameter alone cannot decide the winner yet. Also, it might not be the case always that you are only looking for the most popular programming language to learn. There are many other things that do matter.
If you want to learn a faster language
When it comes to speed, Java dominates here, since python is an interpreted language, it is comparatively slower than Java. So, this means that if you want to learn some language with a greater performance comparatively, you would choose to go with learning Java first.
But again, this parameter alone would not decide the winner of the battle.
The choice for a longer term
As mentioned earlier, most probably, many people end up learning both programming languages(Java and Python) at some stage of life, but if you are deciding now, you should also care about the long term. This again brings us back to the same question, why are we learning a programming language?
You should be clear about what your objectives are behind learning some programming language. For example, if you want to get into Machine learning in the future, then you again have both options available, but if you want a simpler way, you might want to go with python. On the other hand, if you want to get into android application development, you would certainly want to learn Java in this case.
So, if the why is clear in the long term, it would become easy for you to make a decision.
So, which programming language would you choose to learn?
Now, when we have compared the Java and Python programming languages in terms of different aspects, the question is now who wins? What programming language should we learn first? Well, the thing is that the answer to this question depends on many different parameters, out of which, some parameters have been discussed above. So, on the basis of those parameters, you can make a decision, and get going with that.
Note that it completely depends on you, and why you want to learn the programming language. So, it is more important that we ask ourselves, about what we want to learn. However, the differences between these languages would not bother you, if you are an absolute beginner, but still, you should make the way clearer.
FAQ about which language should i learn java or python
Q: Which programming language is easier, Java or Python?
Ans: If we were to compare these two languages, the answer would be that Python is easier.
Q: Which programming language is faster, Java or Python?
Ans: In comparison between Java and Python, Java is found to be faster. Python is slower because it is an interpreted language.
Q: Java or Python, which should I learn first as a beginner?
Ans: Well, the answer to this depends on several parameters, but if you are an absolute beginner, then the differences between these languages should not bother you. You can simply go with any programming language. Also, you can take the above parameters into consideration while you make a decision.