Python and Javascript are two very popular languages used in the coding world. If you aspire to enter the coding world and immerse yourself in the world of coding languages, learning Python and JavaScript is definitely going to be a game-changer.
These two languages are both widely spoken and powerful, but they have significant differences.
What is Python?
Python is a high-level programming language that is object-oriented. It was created by Guido van Rossum and is known for its simplicity and easy-to-read code. Python is commonly used for server-side scripting and has a wide range of applications, including web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and more.
Web Development: Python is often used for server-side scripting in web development, with popular frameworks like Django, Flask, and Pyramid.
Data Analysis and Visualization: Python's extensive libraries, such as Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib, make it a popular choice for data analysis and visualization tasks.
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Python is widely used in the field of machine learning and AI, with libraries like TensorFlow, Keras, and Scikit-learn providing powerful tools for building and training models.
Automation and Scripting: Python's simplicity and readability make it an excellent choice for automating repetitive tasks and writing scripts to streamline workflows.
Game Development: Python can be used for game development, with libraries like Pygame providing tools for creating simple 2D games.
Desktop Application Development: Python can be used to develop desktop applications using libraries like PyQt, Kivy, and Tkinter.
Networking and Security: Python is often used in networking and security tasks, such as penetration testing, network analysis, and building custom network tools.
Internet of Things (IoT): Python can be used to develop IoT applications, thanks to its compatibility with platforms like Raspberry Pi and microcontrollers like MicroPython.
Scientific Computing: Python is widely used in scientific research for tasks like simulations, data processing, and statistical analysis, with libraries like SciPy, SymPy, and Astropy.
Educational Purposes: Python's simplicity and readability make it an ideal language for teaching programming concepts to beginners.
What is Java Script?
JavaScript, or JS, is a scripting language that was created by Brendan Eich (Netscape) and is now maintained by ECMA. It is primarily used for client-side scripting, allowing developers to create interactive and dynamic web pages. JavaScript can also be used for back-end development, making it a versatile language for both front-end and back-end web development.
Client-side scripting: JavaScript is primarily used for client-side scripting, allowing developers to create interactive and dynamic web pages. It can be used to manipulate HTML elements, handle user input, and create animations and effects.
Server-side scripting: With the introduction of Node.js, JavaScript can also be used for server-side scripting, enabling developers to build scalable and high-performance web applications.
Web application development: JavaScript is used in combination with HTML and CSS to develop web applications. It can be used with popular front-end frameworks and libraries like React, Angular, and Vue.js to create responsive and user-friendly interfaces.
Real-time applications: JavaScript can be used to develop real-time applications, such as chat applications, online gaming, and live data streaming, using technologies like WebSockets and libraries like Socket.IO.
Mobile app development: JavaScript can be used to develop cross-platform mobile applications using frameworks like React Native, Ionic, and PhoneGap. These frameworks allow developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android.
Desktop application development: JavaScript can be used to create desktop applications using frameworks like Electron, which enables developers to build cross-platform applications using web technologies.
Internet of Things (IoT): JavaScript can be used to develop IoT applications, thanks to its compatibility with platforms like Raspberry Pi and microcontrollers like Espruino.
Game development: JavaScript can be used for game development, with libraries like Three.js and Babylon.js providing tools for creating 2D and 3D games that run in web browsers.
Browser extensions and add-ons: JavaScript can be used to develop browser extensions and add-ons, enhancing the functionality of web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
Automation and scripting: JavaScript can be used for automating tasks and writing scripts, both in web browsers (using tools like Greasemonkey and Tampermonkey) and on the server-side (using Node.js).
JavaScript vs Python: Key General Differences
Python
JavaScript
It is a high-level programming language that is object-oriented.
JS or Javascript, is a scripting language.
Guido van Rossum is the creator of Python.
Brendan Eich (Netscape) created Javascript, which is presently maintained by ECMA.
Python makes it simple to read and maintain code.
Because of its flexibility, Javascript does not provide easy code readability or maintainability.
But for functions it’s okay
To run Python code, you'll almost always need an interpreter.
The ability to run Javascript code is built-in to most web browsers.
It's a dynamically typed language as well.
It's a dynamically typed language as well.
For server-side scripting, Python is commonly used.
Client-side scripting is the most common use of Javascript.
now for Server-side Scripting also JavaScript Used as Node JS
By default, it is encoded as ASCII.
It has the UTF-16 encoding.
JavaScript Vs Python: Code
Consider the following code snippets, one written in JavaScript and the other in Python. The for loop is used in this code snippet to print a range of values.
Primitive Types
First up, JavaScript and Python have similar built-in data types. For example, both use numeric data types (integers and floats), strings and Booleans.
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// JavaScript data types
const pi = 3.14;
const age = 31;
const greeting = "good morning";
const isAdmin = true;
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# Python data types
pi = 3.14
age = 13
greeting = "good morning"
is_admin = True
Type Checking and Conversion
Python and JavaScript are “dynamically typed” languages, which means you do not have to set the type of a variable explicitly. The data type is set when you assign a value to a variable.
In JavaScript, you use the typeof operator to verify the data type of a variable. Python provides a similar built-in function, type().
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// JavaScript
const greeting = "good morning";
typeof greeting; // "string"
const name= "srinu";
typeof name;// “string”
const isAdmin = true;
typeof isAdmin;// “boolean”
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# Python
pi = 3.14
type(pi) # float
age = 13
Type(age) #int
greeting = "good morning"
Type(greeting ) #string
is_admin = True
Type(is_admin) #boolean
You can convert from one type to another, like a string to a number, in Python with the int() and float() functions:
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# Python
input = input('Enter a number: ') #'2'
#Note:- input data type is by default string data type
# convert string to int
int(input) # 2
JavaScript includes the methods parseInt() and parseFloat() for the same purpose:
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// JavaScript
const input = prompt('Enter a number:'); // '4'
parseInt(input); // 4
Built-in String Methods
To convert cased characters in a string from uppercase to lowercase (and the reverse), use Python’s upper() and lower() functions:
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# Python
user_name = input('What is your name? ') #1WARCOMPANY
user_name.lower() # '1warcompany '
greeting = "good evening"
greeting.upper() # 'GOOD EVENING'
JavaScript supplies the toUpperCase() and toLowerCase() methods to convert strings:
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// JavaScript
const greeting = "good evening";
const userName = prompt("What is your name?"); // "1warcompany "
Const name = “1warcompany ”
greeting.toUpperCase(); // "GOOD EVENING"
userName.toLowerCase(); // "1warcompany "
name.toUpperCase(); // “1WARCOMPANY ”
String Interpolation
Template literals in JavaScript let you replace ${} placeholders with values inside of a string literal. This process is called string interpolation:
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// JavaScript
const greeting = "Good evening";
const name = "Srinu";
console.log(`${greeting}, ${name}!`); // Good evening, Srinu!
The Python string format() method inserts values into a template string containing {} replacement fields. You pass the method the values to interpolate. For example:
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# Python strings
greeting = "Good evening"
name = "Srinu"
print( "{}, {}!".format(greeting, name) ) # Good evening, Srinu!
Python’s formatted string literal (f-String) offers a more concise syntax to accomplish the same. It looks like a regular string that’s prepended by the character f, and you include the value to interpolate directly inside the string.
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# Python strings
greeting = "Good evening"
name = "Srinu"
print(f"{greeting}, {name}!") # Good evening, Srinuil!
Functions
Both languages take full advantage of functions for code reuse. Python uses the def keyword compared to function in JavaScript.
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# Python function
def add(a, b=10):
val =a + b
return val
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// JavaScript function
function add(a, b = 10) {
const val = a + b;
return val;
}
Notice how both use the return keyword to return a value, and you’re able to specify default parameters in each function definition.
Conditional Statements
Python’s flow control statements also look and work similarly to the if/else you know from JavaScript:
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// JavaScript conditional
let score = 4;
if ( score === 5 ) {
console.log("Gold Medal!");
} elseif ( score >= 3 ) {
console.log("Silver Medal");
} elseif ( score >= 1 ) {
console.log("Bronze Medal");
} else {
console.log("No Medal :(");
}
The most significant difference besides the absence of curly braces and parentheses around the condition is the elif clause, which is short for “else if”.
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# Python conditional
score = 5
if score == 5:
print("Gold Medal!")
elif score >= 3:
print("Silver Medal")
elif score >= 1:
print("Bronze Medal")
else:
print("No Medal :(")
Like JavaScript’s else if clause, you can specify any number of elif clauses, and the optional else clause should appear last.
Loops and Iteration
Lastly, Python has a while loop, which looks and works almost the same as its JavaScript counterpart:
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# Python
password = input("Enter the secret password: ")
while password != 'sesame':
password = input("Invalid password. Try again: ")
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// JavaScript
let password = prompt("Enter the secret password:");
Data types like strings, lists, and dictionaries are also iterable objects in Python; you use a for loop to iterate over them:
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# Python for loop
students = ['Lee', 'Toni', 'Marie', 'Jesse', 'Anwar']
for student in students:
print(student)
The above loop seems more elegant as opposed to JavaScript’s verbose for loop. It’s comparable to the for...of loop introduced in ES2015.
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// JavaScript for...of loop
const students = ['Lee', 'Toni', 'Marie', 'Jesse', 'Anwar']
for (let student of students) {
console.log(student);
}
You also use the break keyword in either to exit (or break out of) a while and for loop.
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# Python
scores = [50, 20, 30, 0, 10, 15, 35]
for score in scores:
print(f"Score: {score}");
if score == 0:
print("You may not continue if you have a 0 score.")
break
FAQs
Both Python and JavaScript have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to web development. Python is known for its simplicity and readability, making it a popular choice for server-side scripting and back-end development. JavaScript, on the other hand, is essential for creating interactive and dynamic web pages, making it a must-know language for front-end development. Ultimately, the choice between Python and JavaScript will depend on your specific needs and preferences.
Yes, you can use both Python and JavaScript together in a project. In fact, many web applications use Python for back-end development and JavaScript for front-end development. This combination allows developers to leverage the strengths of both languages to create powerful and interactive web applications.
Both Python and JavaScript are considered beginner-friendly languages. However, Python is often considered easier to learn due to its simple syntax and readability. That being said, JavaScript is also a popular choice for beginners, especially those interested in web development. Ultimately, the ease of learning will depend on your individual learning style and preferences.
