Python vs JavaScript: Key Difference Between Them

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a scripting language that helps you create interactive web pages. It follows the rules of client-side programming, so it runs in the user’s web browser without the need for any resources from the webserver.

You can also use JavaScript with other technologies like REST APIs, XML, and more. Nowadays, JavaScript also using technologies like Node js.

What is Python?

Python is a high-level object-oriented programming language. It has built-in data structures, combined with dynamic binding and typing, which makes it an ideal choice for rapid application development.

Python also offers support for modules and packages, which allows system modularity and code reuse. It is one of the fastest programming language as it requires very few lines of code. Its emphasis is on readability and simplicity, which make it a great choice for beginners. Below are the key differences between Python and JavaScript.

KEY DIFFERENCES:

  • JavaScript is a scripting language that helps you create interactive web pages, while Python is a high-level object-oriented programming language that has built-in data structures, combined with dynamic binding and typing, which makes it an ideal choice for rapid application development.
  • JavaScript has no concept of mutable and immutable but Python has mutable and immutable data types.
  • JavaScript should be encoded as UTF-16 as it does not offer any built-in support for manipulating raw bytes, whereas Python source code is ASCII by default unless you are specifying any encoding format.
  • JavaScript uses curly brackets whereas Python language uses indentation
  • JavaScript objects have properties that can be composed of underlying attributes which let you define a property, and in Python programming language, getter and setter functions are used to defining an attribute.
  • JavaScript helps you to build a website or native application whereas Python is for tasks related to data analytics, machine learning, and math-intensive operations.

Features of JavaScript

Here are the important features of JavaScript:

  • It’s a cross-platform language
  • It’s widely used for client-side and server-side
  • Strong Testing Workflow
  • It’s easy to learn and to start coding with
  • Offers added dependencies

Features of Python

Here are the important features of Python:

  • Easy to learn, read, and maintain
  • It can run on various hardware platforms & using the same interface.
  • You can include low-level modules to the Python interpreter.
  • Python offers an ideal structure and support for large programs.
  • Python offers support for automatic garbage collection.
  • It supports an interactive mode of testing and debugging.
  • It offers high-level dynamic data types and also supports dynamic type checking.
  • Python language can be integrated with Java, C, and C++ programming code
  • Easy concurrency support via goroutines
  • Fast compilation times
  • Statically linked binaries which are simple to deploy

Python vs JavaScript: Difference Between JavaScript and Python

Here is the main difference between Python and JavaScript:

Difference Between JavaScript and Python
Difference between Python and JavaScript

JavaScript Python
JavaScript has no concept of mutable and immutable Python has mutable and immutable data types.
JavaScript should be encoded as UTF-16 as it does not offer any built-in support for manipulating raw bytes. Python source code is ASCII by default unless you are specifying any encoding format.
JavaScript has only floating-point numbers. In Python, there are many different numeric types like int, fixed-point decimal, etc.
JavaScript uses curly brackets Python uses indentation
JavaScript has fewer modules like date, math, regexp, JSON. Python includes a wide range of modules.
JavaScript objects have properties that can be composed of underlying attributes which let you define a property. In Python programming language, getter and setter functions are used to defining an attribute.
JavaScript uses a prototype-based inheritance model. Python uses the class-based inheritance model.
In addition to front-end and back-end development, JavaScript is also a good option for mobile development. Python is not a good fit for developing Mobile applications.
JavaScript helps you to build a website or native application. Python is for tasks related to data analytics, machine learning, and math-intensive operations.
TOBIE rating is 7 TOBIE rating is 3
The average salary for a JavaScript developer is $114,856 per year in the United States. The average salary for a python developer is $120,255 per year.

Stack Overflow Questions: JavaScript vs. Python

Javascript vs. Python

Stack Overflow Questions: JavaScript vs. Python

Applications of JavaScript

Here are the important applications of JavaScript:

  • It allows you to build secure and scalable applications.
  • Dynamic Single-Page Applications (SPAs)
  • Front-End technologies like jQuery, AngularJS, Ember.js, ReactJS are based on JavaScript
  • Server-Side technologies like MongoDB, Node.js, and Express.js are based on Java Script.
  • It also uses for mobile app development using React, PhoneGap, etc.

Applications of Python

Here are the important applications of Python:

  • Language for AI, Machine learning and Deep learning
  • Rapid prototyping web scripting
  • Ad hoc programming
  • Scientific applications
  • XML processing
  • Database applications
  • Used for GUI applications

Advantages of JavaScript

Here are the pros/benefits of using JavaScript:

  • It is an open-source project
  • Specially designed tool for small scripts
  • Supports classes, interfaces, & modules.
  • Compiled JavaScript runs in any browser
  • Allows cross-compilation
  • JavaScript language is used both on the client-side and the server-side. which means that this language runs practically everywhere from browsers to powerful servers
  • JavaScript has a large community that actively back the language.
  • You can extend JavaScript for writing large apps
  • You can use JavaScript to store and retrieve information on the user’s computer
  • It provides immediate feedback to the visitors
  • It allows you to create interfaces that react when the user hovers using the mouse.

Advantages of Python

Here are the pros/benefits of using Python language:

  • Python is a powerful object-oriented programming language.
  • Uses an elegant syntax, making the program you write easier to read.
  • Python comes with a large standard library, so it supports many common programming tasks.
  • Runs on various types of computers and operating systems: Windows, macOS, Unix, OS/2,etc.
  • Very simple syntax compared to Java, C, and C++ languages.
  • Extensive library and handy tools for developers
  • Python has its auto-installed shell
  • Compared with the code of other languages, python code is easy to write and debug. Therefore, its source code is relatively easy to maintain.
  • Python is a portable language so that it can run on a wide variety of operating systems and platforms.
  • Python comes with many prebuilt libraries, which makes your development task easy.
  • Python helps you to make complex programming simpler. As it internally deals with memory addresses, garbage collection.
  • Python provides an interactive shell that helps you to test the things before its actual implementation.
  • Python offers database interfaces to all major commercial DBMS systems.

Disadvantages of JavaScript

Here are the drawbacks/cons of using JavaScript:

  • Client-side JavaScript does not allow the reading or writing of files. It has been kept for security reasons.
  • JavaScript can’t be used for networking applications because there is not much support available.
  • JavaScript doesn’t have any multiprocessor multithreading features.

Disadvantages of Python

Here are the cons/drawbacks of using Python language:

  • Used in fewer platforms.
  • Weak in mobile computing, hence not used in app development
  • As Python is dynamic, so it shows more errors at run-time.
  • The under-developed and primitive database access layer
  • Absence of commercial support

When to use JavaScript and when to use Python?

  • If you are doing web development, the better choice is to consider the trio of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • People who want to learn machine learning, data science, and neural networks should consider learning Python
  • Python is usable as a frontend language as transpilers that convert Python code to JavaScript make the applications slower. That’s why it is better to use Python for backend development and stick to JavaScript for frontend.