Python is the most trending programming language, whereas JavaScript is also the best language for web development. That is why the confusion between Python and JavaScript is common. Hopefully, this blog should clear up any confusion about the key differences between Python or JavaScript. More significantly, we will discuss which language is the best fit for the various purposes of each project. Interested in learning more? Let’s start!

What is Python?

Python is a well-known and widely used programming language. The Python programming language may use in the following applications by developers:

System scripting, software development, web development (server-side), mathematics.

Python may run on various platforms and operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Raspberry Pi, etc. It has a basic syntax similar to English and enables the development of fewer code lines than other computer languages.

Python is an interpreter system, which means that the code may be executed as soon as it is written. It indicates that prototyping may complete quickly. Python can approach in a procedural, object-oriented, or functional manner.

What is JavaScript?

One of the most well-known programming languages is JavaScript. Developers may use the JavaScript programming language in the following applications:

Web development (client-side), software development, web development (server-side), and system scripting are all examples of web development.

JavaScript is a dynamic programming language for computers. It’s small and simple to use, and it’s most typically found on websites. Thanks to its implementations, client-side scripts may interact with the user and create dynamic pages.

It’s an object-oriented programming language that can be interpreted. JavaScript is a client-side and server-side scripting language.

Which wins the battle between Python and JavaScript in terms of popularity?

JavaScript has been the most popular programming language for several years, according to The 2020 State of the Octoverse. And it has an undoubtedly high-grade reputation among developers. On the other hand, Python’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years (particularly after 2018), owing to the creation of excellent web development frameworks (such as Django) and its status as the go-to language for data research and machine learning.

According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2020, JavaScript has retained its position as the most often used language (67.7%), with Python trailing behind (44.1%). Nonetheless, according to the TIOBE Index for July 2021, Python is the third most popular programming language, while JavaScript is the seventh most popular programming language. Last but not least, examine Github’s PYPL – Popularity of Programming Language, which shows that Python is the most popular programming language, followed by JavaScript.

When to use Python and JavaScript?

Python or JavaScript can definitely complement each other in software development projects. However, one may be more appropriate in some situations than the other.

On one side, JavaScript excels in adding interactive functionality to web pages. This makes it simple for visitors to participate. It is also an excellent choice for developing online and mobile applications. It is the only programming language that is native to the web browser and offers a variety of frameworks to developers (e.g., React, Angular, and Vue).

It may, however, use Node.js for back-end infrastructure to construct web servers and develop server applications. Express and Meteor.js are two of the most popular frameworks in this situation. That is why JS has the tools for developers who want to utilise JavaScript for server-side implementations. However, it was only possible because of the development of Node.js; before that, JavaScript’s main attention was on the client-side.

On the other hand, Python is the best language for machine learning, data visualisation, Artificial intelligence and data analytics. Python is incredibly strong in the back-end of web development, and it offers various great libraries and frameworks, such as Flask, Django, and Pyramid.

Python vs JavaScript: Face to face comparison for more clarity

Parameter	Python	JavaScript
Scalability	The multiprocessing library is available in Python for developers.	Multithreading allows you to increase the number of threads in a program, which improves scalability.
Inheritance	Python uses a class-based inheritance mechanism as an OOP language.	Only a prototype-based inheritance approach is used in this language to allow inheritance.
Strongly-typed vs Weakly-typed	Python is tightly typed; therefore, there are no implicit type conversions.	JavaScript is weakly-typed, making implicit conversions between unrelated types.
Function Arguments	Python has an exception if a function is called with invalid parameters.	When functions in JavaScript are collected with invalid parameters, their value is automatically regarded as “undefined.”
Performance	Python is slower than Node.js since requests are processed in a single flow.	Because of its excellent multithreading capabilities, Node.js has faster performance.
Mutable vs. Immutable	Both mutable and immutable concepts are supported in Python.	In JS, all primitive values are immutable. Objects and arrays are mutable.
REPL	REPL (Read-Eval-Print-Loop) is installed on the system by default for Python developers.	If developers install Node.js, they can use this method in JavaScript.
Procedural Programming	Procedural programming is supported.	Procedural programming is not supported.
Libraries and Modules	Python is a programming language that comes with all of the necessary tools.	Although there aren’t as many ready-to-use modules in JavaScript as there are in Python, it does include the date, maths, JSON, and regexp.

Python or JavaScript: Which is the future programming language?

Everything we have discussed in this blog points out that comparing Python with JavaScript isn’t appropriate. Both programming languages were created with various aims in mind. This explains why they are used differently in software development now.

Is this something that will change in the future? JavaScript’s position as the most powerful online and mobile application development toolkit appears to be extremely strong at present. It is tremendously used as a general-purpose programming language, but it is uncertain if it could be a Python alternative.

On the other hand, Python will almost certainly continue to dominate the machine learning business and academics due to its readability and ease of use and data manipulation capacity.

In the end, the decision depends on the nature of your project and a variety of other factors. That is why we can not deny that both programming languages are the future of their own respective domains or fields.

Also Read: Python vs Java

Conclusion

Python and JavaScript did not become the most popular programming languages by accident. They offer facilities like highly effective libraries and frameworks throughout the years. And they get all of the necessary features to enable developers to advance in software development.

Despite their differences, there is no such thing as a bad choice for Python or JavaScript. We suggest that developers combine the two languages to get the most out of both, using Python for the back-end and JavaScript for the front-end.

Frequently Asked Questions