In this tutorial, we will explore and compare Javascript Vs Python with important features, advantages, and uses of Python and Javascript:
Though, both Python and Javascript are languages used for developing web applications, yet their scope of use is different. We shall look at their areas of use to understand how these languages differ in this tutorial.
We will also see the features and a small code example written in each of these languages to understand how we can use these languages.
Finally, we will go through the advantages of Python Vs Javascript and vice versa. Towards the end, we have also included a list of briefly answered FAQs.
Table of Contents:
Understanding Javascript Vs Python
So let us get going and begin the tutorial by understanding what Javascript and Python are.
What Is Javascript
Javascript is a scripting language mainly used for client-side scripting. Netscape developed it in 1995. However, it can also be used for server-side scripting when used with Node.js and alike.
Unlike programming languages, scripting languages are not compiled before execution instead, during runtime, each line of code is interpreted one at a time by the browser. Javascript programs are also called ‘scripts’.
Scripting languages make any live changes or updates possible on a web page without manually reloading the page. These scripts are first interpreted and then executed by the web browser. Javascript is supported by most of the popular web browsers.
Javascript aids in creating web pages that are dynamic. For instance, displaying current news, graphics, and animation, accepting user inputs after validating, changing web content without reloading the web page, and such similar scenarios. These features are possible with the use of Javascript.
It is to be noted that the use of Javascript does not require the use of a compiler or any other software. All major browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. are equipped to process any Javascript code. The Javascript code is simply embedded in an HTML document and it is directly interpreted by the web browser.
It is an easy-to-learn scripting language not only for beginners but is even used by tech giants such as Google, Wikipedia, etc.
What Is Python
Python is an interpreter-based, high-level programming language that supports structured, functional, and Object-oriented programming. It was released in the year 1991 by Guido van Rossum, who was a dutch programmer, best known as a creator of Python. It was released as a successor to the ABC programming language.
Python language supports multiple programming paradigms. It fully supports Object-oriented and structured programming. Many features of functional programming are also supported.
Paradigms like contract programming, logic programming are also supported but via the use of extensions.
Syntactically, Python is an easily readable language. It has very few syntactic exceptions and special cases as compared to other languages like C, Pascal, etc. It uses white spaces indentation to delimit code blocks rather than curly brackets as used in most of the other programming languages.
Instagram and Youtube are popular examples of apps that use Python.
Further Readings =>> 10 Best Python Books For Beginners
Use Of Javascript
Javascript is a scripting language that has become so popular that if you are a developer, it may not be possible for you to work without it. It is mainly used as a client-side scripting language.
Introduction to Javascript led the way to a new world of web pages that were interactive. If you know HTML, you would be aware that HTML is used for static content display on a web page and CSS is used in styling the web pages. Javascript on the other hand enables us to make the web pages interactive.
It is thus widely used for creating dynamic web pages. It allows us to accept and validate user input. Creation of dynamic web content using Javascript is possible with the use of drop-down menus, mouseover activity, animations, etc. on a web page.
Although it was developed for front-end programming it is now also used for back-end development too.
Use Of Python
Python, an interpreter-based, high-level programming language, is easy to implement. Understanding a program written in Python is also quite easy.
As mentioned above, Python is an Object-oriented programming language that supports multiple programming paradigms like structured, functional programming. It can thus be used for developing complete software. Paradigms like contract programming, logic programming are also supported but via use of extensions.
Python can also be used simply as a scripting language. In fact, Python is majorly used when it comes to client-side scripting. We may thus say that python allows creating simple as well as complex programs with the use of various programming styles.
Javascript Vs Python: General Comparison
| Javascript | Python |
|---|---|
| Javascript or JS is a scripting language. | It is an Object oriented, high level programming language. |
| Javascript was created by Brendan Eich(Netscape) and is now maintained by ECMA. | Python was created by Guido van Rossum. |
| Javascript being much flexible does not offer easy code readability and maintainability. | Python offers easy code readability and maintainability. |
| The most recent version of JavaScript released in 2018 is ECMAScript 2018(ECMAScript is the official name of Javascript). | The most recent version of Python is 3.9 which was released in October 2020. |
| Web Browsers have built-in support to execute Javascript code. | An Interpreter is generally needed to run a Python code. |
| It is a dynamically typed language. | It too is a dynamically typed language. |
| Javascript is mostly used for client side scripting. | Python is generally used for server side scripting. |
| It is encoded as UFT-16. | It is encoded as ASCII by default. |
| It has only one type of numeric data type that can hold a decimal value. | It has int, float and complex as the numeric data types. |
| It is a weakly typed language. | It is a strongly typed language. |
| It does not support procedural programming. | It supports procedural programming. |
| Javascript’s standard library is not very large. | Standard library provided in Python is very large. |
| Javascript has no libraries for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics etc. | Python has libraries for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics etc. |
Python Vs Javascript: Code Comparison
Let us take a look at a code snippet written in Javascript and the same code written in Python. The code snippet prints a range of values using FOR loop.
Python Code
Lang = ['Python', 'Javascript', 'PHP']
for i in range(len(Lang)):
print(Lang[i])
Javascript Code
const Lang = ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'];
for (let i = 0; i < Lang.length; i++) {
console.log(Lang[i]);
}
Websites Using Javascript
Popular websites such as Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, etc. were built using Javascript.
Websites Using Python
Many of the top tech companies use Python for their back-end programming. Popular companies that use Python are Google, Instagram, Uber, Spotify, Netflix, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q #1) Can Python replace JavaScript?
Answer: No, Python cannot replace Javascript. In fact, the two languages complement each other. Javascript is used as a client-side scripting language, whereas Python is mostly used as a server-side scripting language.
Q #2) How is JavaScript different from Python?
Answer: Javascript is a scripting language whose each line or command is not compiled but interpreted one by one during runtime by the web browser. It is used for client-side programming.
Python, on the other hand, is Object-oriented programming whose commands are compiled to byte-code during execution and then the byte code is executed by an interpreter. It is a language mainly used for server-side programming.
Q #3) Is Python used for the front end?
Answer: Python can be used as a front-end or back-end programming language. However, most of the top tech companies use Python for back-end programming.
Q #4) Where is Python used in real life?
Answer: Python is a high-level programming language that supports structured programming and so it allows creating simple as well as complex programs with the use of various programming styles. It can be used for developing desktop as well as web applications.
Q #5) Can I learn JavaScript and Python at the same time?
Answer: Yes, Javascript and Python can both be learned at the same time. Javascript is mainly used for front-end programming whereas Python is used for backend programming.
Q #6) Is Python a dying language?
Answer: No Python is still in use, and a lot of top tech companies still use it for back-end development. Some of the popular companies that use Python are: Google, Instagram, Uber, Spotify, Netflix, etc
Q #7) Should I learn JavaScript or Python first?
Answer: The choice of which language is to be learned first would depend on the use it needs to be put to. If you are a beginner web programmer, then you can start with Javascript, which is used for front-end development. However, if you wish to learn a language mainly for back-end development, then Python would be the preferred choice.
Q #8) Is JavaScript a good career?
Answer: Knowing and mastering Javascript can fetch you the jobs of a front-end web developer. Javascript professionals are always in great demand.
Q #9) Can I learn Python without knowing JavaScript?
Answer: Yes, Python can be learned without knowing Javascript. In fact, Python is a high-level programming language mainly used for back-end programming. Knowing Javascript along with Python would be useful as Javascript is used for front-end development.
Q #10) Can Python be self-taught?
Answer: Yes, you can learn Python all by yourself. To begin learning Python, you just need to have a very basic knowledge of programming. You can find a lot of material on the web to learn Python and become a master.
Conclusion
The article aimed at giving you a basic understanding of the languages – Javascript and Python. We also covered the differences between Javascript and Python. Through a code example, the article gave an insight into how a piece of code written in Python and the same code written in Javascript would look like.
We have also seen the top tech companies that use Javascript. Companies that use Python were also covered in this article. Lastly, some of the FAQs related to this topic have also been answered by our readers.
We hope that this article would be useful and would help you understand the areas of use of Javascript and Python.