Introduction
Python and JavaScript are two languages in the coding universe that are taking their flight with increasing speed. Both languages are popular in their own fields of advantages and are highly opted for by both beginners as well as skilled developers.
As said before, both these languages are very widespread, are also powerful, and share somewhat the same similarities, but that doesn’t mean they are the same! They indeed share differences that give them their own discrete identities.
Python vs JavaScript
The key difference between both languages is that Python is widely used by developers for an assortment of scientific applications. On the other hand, JavaScript is highly used for web development, which also includes user-facing functions and servers.
Difference Between Python and JavaScript in Tabular Form
| Parameters of Comparison | Python | JavaScript |
| Use | Python is favourably used for scripting and automation language. | JavaScript is used for a wide variety of purposes that include websites, web applications, and server applications using Node.js |
| Easy to learn | For a beginner, Python is considered easier as its main motive is to make the procedure easy for developers to adopt and learn. | JavaScript is not that difficult either but as compared to Python, Python is easier and handy to work with. |
| Primary use | Is primarily used for back-end development. | Is primary used for both, back-end as well as front-end developments. |
| Job Opportunities | Python had a job scale of 17.9% in the year 2021. | JavaScript had a job scale of 14% in the year 2021. |
| Flexibility | Python is known for its versatile flexibility which conforms the users particular style rather than forcing down a certain way on them like other programs. | JavaScript is light weight that means it uses objects to perform the operations which make the procedure more flexible. |
| Plus-points | Python at an overall stage makes programming easy and simple. | It’s an object oriented script and when combined with Nodes.js it turns more powerful. |
| Shortcomings | Since Python is a high-level programming language, it’s proved unsuitable for system-level-programming. Python also is a poor choice if the user’s primary focus is speed. | JavaScript is not well worse with reading or writing files. It lacs in multiprocessing capabilities. |
What is Python?
As said earlier, Python is a high-level programming language and includes a general purpose with an object-oriented script. Guido Van Rossum created Python during the period from 1985 to 1990 at the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands. What makes Python different and more accessible is that it is designed with the prime aim of being highly readable.
Python uses recurrent exposure of English keywords and includes a small number of syntactical constructions than any other script or language. To explain it in a nutshell, Python happens to use more English keywords, whereas other languages use punctuations.
Python is said to be derived from various languages, which include ABC, Modula-3, C, C++, Algol-68, SmallTalk, UNIX shell, and other scripting languages. Python is thus copyrighted, and its source code is presently available under the GNU General Public License (GPL). According to the data in hand, an essential development team at a designated institute now maintains Python, with Guido Van Rossum still holding a vital role in directing the process.
Features of Python
Python includes a list of features that makes it to the top of scripting languages. They are listed as followed:
Comfortable to absorb or easy to learn: With its flexible use methods, Python has a small number of keywords, simple and ordered structure and lucidly defined syntax. This guides as well helps the students and experienced developers to understand and also use efficient language.
Effortless read or easy to read: As compared to other scripted coding languages, Python uses English keywords which makes it suitable to understand, and also it comprises one of the clearly defined codings which is noticeable to the eyes.
Easy to uphold: Python as far as possible is fairly easy to maintain and work with because of its flexibility.
Manageable: Python has the advantage of running on a broad array of hardware platforms and it shares the same interface on all the verified platforms.
Databases: Python tends to provide an interface to all foremost commercial databases.
Other convenient features that are provided by Python include:
- Python supports functional and structured programming methods.
- Python provides high-level dynamic data.
- Python supports automatic garbage collection.
- Python can easily be integrated with C, C++, COM, ActiveX, CORBA, and Java too.
Types of Python Coding Styles
As said earlier, Python is known for its flexibility, which gives the freedom to the developers to use their best-suited style rather than compromising themselves with the style that is granted by the program. When it comes to the types of coding styles of Python, they are as follows:
Imperative: This type of coding is an archetype of Python. It’s especially used in the process of manipulating data structures, which gives the utmost result in the shape of elegant coding, which is simple yet well-designed.
Functional: In the functional type of coding, every statement is canned as a mathematical equation. This avoids changeable data and is thus considered advantageous and is used by the majority of developers.
Object-oriented: Where Python states an imperative type of coding as its paradigm. On the contrary, it treats an object-oriented type of coding as its antithesis. This is because this field of Python is not successful when it comes to implementing features, for example, data hiding.
Procedural: Python holds its head high in this particular type of coding as it prefers repetition, sequencing, selection, and modularization. It’s a step-by-step procedure that holds common tasks which may sound common but are a necessity.
It’s not practically guaranteed that these Python coding styles are valid or useful. For that matter, Python allows them to be used according to the will.
What is JavaScript?
Along with Python, JavaScript is also one of the most popular programming languages in the world and is always considered a good and easy choice to start with if you’re a beginner. It was created in 1995 by Brandon Erich and has travelled a long journey right from the time of its origin. Its origin is historical, as it’s the first scripting language that was approached, supported, and adopted by indigenous or native web browsers.
Towards the beginning, JavaScript was not as powerful as it is now in present times. In the starting years of its existence, it was used for animations and was known as Dynamic HTML. With the pace of time, JavaScript also gained its pace and thus evolved to accommodate the needs of a growing world of developers with the help of web platform development demands.
As far as the naming of the script is concerned, JavaScript has nothing to do with Java altogether. Then why add it, you ask? It’s simply a choice of name and nothing particular in return to associate it with Java.
Features of JavaScript
JavaScript is known for its popular features which work as help for beginners and also make work easy for developed developers. There are altogether six top features of JavaScript which include:
High level: High level consists of functions that allow the developer to use the program without keeping a constant eye on the platform of the machine. It has the feature of managing memory automatically with the help of a garbage collector. This enables the user to focus on the coding undertaken by him and not on managing memory.
Dynamic: As the name suggests, it’s the opposite of static programming languages. It holds the procedure at runtime, which gives it a taste of both good and bad. Dynamic also exposes a list of features such as dynamic typing, reflection, object runtime alteration, late binding, closures, and others.
Case sensitive format: Since the codes that are written in JavaScript are case-sensitive, there is going to be no difference in the output. No matter if the codes are coded in Uppercase or Lowercase, the output is going to be the same.
Statement looping: Statement looping helps in performing uniform operations continually. In a nutshell, the coding in statement looping runs in the repeat method.
Types of JavaScript
As mentioned earlier, JavaScript is a dynamic language where the variables are not directly connected with any particular value. So the types of JavaScript are easy to follow.
Boolean type: It exemplifies a logical unit that acquires two values. They are true and false.
Null type: Unlike the Boolean type, the Null type consists of one single value, and that’s null.
Undefined type: Undefined type is a variable whose value isn’t defined yet. That’s its value still undefined.
Number type: According to JavaScript Guidelines, Number type is a double–precision 64-bit binary format IEEE 754 value. In short, the Number type includes only one integer with multiple representations. For instance, 0 is represented as both +0 and -0.
String type: This type is used strictly when there is textual data. A string type is a set of ‘elements’. These elements are made of 16-bit integer values, and each particular element inhibits a station in the String. For instance, the first element is at index 0, the next element is at index 1, and the list continues.
Symbol type: A symbol is a unique value and sometimes is used as the key of an Object (a value in memory that is possibly referenced by an identifier) property.
Main Differences Between Python and JavaScript In Points
- Each programming language comprises its style to define code blocks, and so do Python and JavaScript. Python depends completely on indentation to define code blocks. In distinction to Python, JavaScript uses curled braces ({ }) to cluster statements that belong to the same code.
- A variable definition is an utmost fundamental statement when it comes to any programming language. When it comes to Python, the name of the variable is followed by an equal sign (=) and the value that would be assigned to the variable, for example, y = 10. The syntax that is followed by JavaScript is somewhat similar but with some addition. The addition is the use of the keyword (var) before the variable, and it ends with a semicolon towards the end (;) for example, var y = 10;
- Naming variables is also an important statement, and both languages monitor two different variable naming conventions. Python uses the ‘snake_case’ naming style, while JavaScript uses the ‘lowerCamelCase’ naming style. According to the Python Style Guide, variable names should be lowercase with words disjointed by underscores as necessary to recover readability. For example, second_statement. According to JavaScript Guidelines, a developer should use lowerCamelCasing for a variable name and use brief, human-readable, semantic names where appropriate. For example, the second statement.
- The difference in data types is an essential step in both languages, and this is where they share their common differences. When it comes to Numeric Data Type, Python uses three numeric types, while JavaScript uses two. The three types of nuclear data used by Python are int (integers), float (floating point numbers), and complex. Each one of them has its properties, its characteristics, and its very own applications. The two numeric data types used by JavaScript are Number and BigInt.
- When it comes to stating that a variable doesn’t have a value, Python uses a special value called None, and JavaScript uses null.
Conclusion
To summarise the entire article, in a nutshell, both the programs, Python and JavaScript are very important as well as powerful languages which share common similarities along with major differences in their applications. The differences shared by both the programming language are not huge in number, and it depends on the requirement and scope of the user. Where Python is majorly used for web development along with other applications and a prime aim for scientific purposes, JavaScript has its specifications in web development and is extremely fitting for mobile app development.
Though both languages share their private differences, the major purpose that gets them together on the same line is their aim or goal, and that is to develop powerful programs.
References
- https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/python-vs-javascript-what-are-the-key-differences-between-the-two-popular-programming-languages/
- https://javascript.info/intro
