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The software development industry is dynamic and volatile. People who have been engaged in software development for at least a few years have seen a large pile of changes. 

Some technologies have entered the competition by storm and acquired popularity in a dramatically short period of time like Python, and some have gone forever without much acknowledgment like Pascal. 

Therefore at the beginning of one’s career path, it’s of great importance to choose the language that is in demand, widely applied, and has an active development community like both Python and JS do.

In today’s blog post, we will cover the matters of Python vs JavaScript, the languages that are in some ways comparable but with significantly different use cases and syntax.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is one of the most popular scripting languages initially created to “make web pages more interactive”. When something more is happening on the web page than just its static display, for instance, animating 2D/3D graphics, interactive maps, or scrolling a video in a player, most likely it’s because JavaScript has been involved. It’s an object-oriented programming language whose functionality builds on top of what CSS and HTML provide.

What is Python?

Python is an object-oriented, general-purpose programming language that is gaining popularity at extremely high speed. The main principle behind Python is the readability and DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) concept. Python has an easy-to-learn syntax, therefore, reduces the expenses for program maintenance. It incorporates dynamic typing and binding and high-level data structures which makes it extremely useful for complex application development.

JS vs Python: Popularity

According to StackOverflow Developer Survey 2024, JavaScript has maintained its leadership as the most commonly used programming language (it has taken first place every year since the first survey was carried out). Python holds third place in the list having beaten such popular technologies as Java, PHP, and C#.
python vs javascript

The PYPL (Popularity of Programming Language Index) as of August 2024, states that Python remains the most popular programming language, while JavaScript takes the third position. The index is based on the number of tutorials that are searched on Google. So, if you trust in collective judgment, the PYPL index can help you to choose which language to master or to take up for project development.

According to the TIOBE Programming Community Index, Python has swapped positions with Java which was taking its position for 20 years in a row and C, and now takes first place among the most popular programming languages.  JavaScript is placed in the sixth position. TIOBE index is based on a number of skilled engineers around the world, courses, and third-party vendors.
Python popularity

As to the salary comparison, Indeed states that the average salary of a Python software developer is $62 per hour in the US, while a JavaScript developer earns $48 correspondingly.

Another data provided by StackOverflow states that Python programmers earn approximately $67,723 annually, while JavaScript developers make around $63,694.


JavaScript vs Python: Speed and Performance

The initial purpose of creating JavaScript was to make it fast on the web. Compared to Python, it’s a little bit faster since Node.js, for example, offers advanced multithreading while Python processes requests in a single flow. Apps that require real-time and dynamic interactions are more frequently built on JavaScript and the same can be said about website and ERP apps (as JS supports both domains). This means that applications like Facebook that generate big amounts of data in real time are more likely to use JavaScript so as not to make their users wait.

On the other hand, Python is a popular choice for CPU-intensive modern solutions such as a machine learning model that has to process large piles of data to solve a specific problem. Since it’s easy to code, it’s frequently used to develop large-sized applications, especially math-intensive projects. Though the Instagram server is more of an I/O than a CPU-intensive situation, it still uses Python. This proves that Python can perform very quickly if you know how to optimize it correctly (with the help of NumPy or Cython, for example).


JavaScript vs Python: Learning Curve

What’s the difference between JavaScript and Python in ease of learning?

Beginners are usually tempted to start with Python as it’s considered one of the most beginner-friendly languages, and there are a few reasons for that. 

First of all, code in Python is more readable compared to other languages and contains fewer lines. Secondly, it has fewer structural rules which significantly speeds up the development process. 

JavaScript is not that easy to learn and is quite difficult to debug. However, if one is acquainted with C-like languages, it will be easier to learn JavaScript as its syntax is similar to the rules of these languages.

There is a massive amount of additional resources available on the Internet in both languages. If you want to take up Python, a good idea is to check Jose Portilla’s The Python 3 BootCamp which has almost one million graduates.


JS vs Python: Web and Mobile App Development

Now, let’s discuss difference between Python and JavaScript in web and mobile development.

As it has been mentioned above, web applications developed with JavaScript are faster and handle big amounts of data and code better while Python will take longer to respond. Thanks to Node.js which supports asynchronous architecture, programmers can reach better scalability using JS. 

On the other hand, Python is more used on the server side. It’s important to mention that Python has a steady environment with the following frameworks: Pyramid, Flask, and Django, using which will improve the development.

Initially, Python was not designed to develop GUI apps though with the help of such popular development frameworks as Kivy and BeeWare libraries, it’s possible to build native-looking mobile apps with Python. 

Though JavaScript is the primary language for development and management of websites, it’s also frequently used for mobile development. A big drawback of JS for mobile is that neither IOS nor Android runs native apps written with it.


JS vs Python: Scalability

When it comes to discussing JavaScript and Python difference in scalability, both Python and JavaScript have their strengths, but they shine in different areas.

JavaScript is often considered more scalable for web applications. It’s the go-to front-end language and, with the help of Node.js, it's also powerful on the server side. JavaScript can handle a lot of simultaneous connections, making it ideal for real-time apps like chats or online games. Plus, it's supported by a huge ecosystem of powerful tools and robust libraries that make it easier to build large-scale web apps.
JavaScript apps
Python, on the other hand, is highly scalable for data-heavy applications, like those involving machine learning, data analysis, or scientific computing. It’s known for its simplicity and readability, which helps when projects grow large and complex. Python’s extensive libraries, like TensorFlow and Pandas, make it easy to handle big data, but it might not be as fast as JavaScript for handling a huge number of simultaneous users in real-time web apps.
Python apps

So, if you're building a web app with lots of real-time interactions, JavaScript might be your best bet for scalability. But if your project is more about heavy data processing or complex computations, Python could scale better for your needs.

Advantages of Python:

  • Python is a high-level programming language that is easy to learn, read, and write;
  • Being an interpreted language, Python executes the code line by line;
  • It has a massive standard library support, including PyPl;
  • Python is a very productive and flexible programming language;
  • It’s a general-purpose programming language therefore is applicable to almost every field and variety of tasks.

Applications of Python:

Python has a wide range of use cases across different industries. Besides the common applications such as building mobile, web, and desktop applications, Python is a language of choice for:

  • AI and ML projects;
  • Backend enterprise development;
  • Data science;
  • Scripting;
  • Database programming;
  • Quick prototyping, etc.

Advantages of JavaScript:

  • JavaScript is an interpreted language and a client-side script that reduces the compilation time and speeds up the execution of the program;
  • It’s easy to understand and learn;
  • JavaScript is highly interoperable and works perfectly with other programming languages;
  • It can create rich interfaces with such features as drag and drop, components like sliders, etc.;
  • It’s extremely popular and is used everywhere on the web and is increasingly used as a backend language with the advent of Node.js.

Applications of JavaScript:

Having the largest open-source package repository, JavaScript has been used for every type of software in different segments:

  • Web, desktop, and mobile applications;
  • Cross-platform app development;
  • Server applications;
  • Games;
  • Smartwatch apps;
  • Web servers;
  • Flying robots, etc.

Final Thoughts

Summing up, both Python and JavaScript are very popular languages, each of them has strong community, and offer a lot of job opportunities and high rates in the market. There are a lot of online courses and plenty of documentation to take up each of them. 

JavaScript strongly holds the position of the most powerful language for web and mobile development, while Python dominates in the machine learning field because of its capacity to manipulate data and strong readability. 

The choice between Python and JS also depends on your previous experience. If you want a quick start, Python is a better option. Though people with knowledge of C-like languages won’t find JavaScript a big challenge either.

Which language would you recommend for beginners? Share in the comments below!

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