Java vs JavaScript - Differences you Should Know

It’s an acceptable misunderstanding that most people would think Java and JavaScript are somewhat similar because of the most obvious things they share in common; they both have the word ‘Java’ and they both are popular languages that come up when talking about tech.

You may think that JavaScript is some derivative of Java, it is not. In fact, they are pretty much completely different, and in this post, we’d be identifying what makes them different and how that influences your next move as a software development enthusiast, student, or random person searching for the difference between Java and JavaScript. Let’s dive right in!

Java vs. JavaScript

Origin Story

Unlike you guessed, Java and JavaScript were not developed by the same set of people or organizations.

Java was developed by a Canadian Computer scientist, James Gosling while he was at Sun Microsystems (which has now been acquired by Oracle) and was released in 1995.

The name ‘Java’ was not derived from any word affiliated with the tech industry but, is actually gotten from Java coffee which was the first coffee ever produced (Hence, the logo).

JavaScript on the other hand, was developed later that same year by a Netscape programmer, Brendan Eich. While it took James Gosling and his team a few years to create Java, JavaScript was developed in only 10 days and just like Java, it has undergone multiple updates and twitches to make it the language we know today.

If their origin stories are so distinct, why are their names so similar then?

There is no one answer to that question but, only theories. While some say the name, JavaScript came from Netscape’s support of Java applets within its browser, there’s more of a prominent buzz that the name was more of a marketing strategy; a deliberate act to divert some attention from Java. This holds some water as JavaScript was originally named ‘Mocha’, a term also related to coffee.

There’s another theory that Netscape and sun microsystem had formed an alliance against Microsoft which was Sun Microsystems’ competition at the time. So there you have it, the naming has nothing to do with what tasks they are capable of performing.

Type of Language

Java and JavaScript are nonidentical down to the type of programming language that they are.

Java is an object-oriented programming language and it’s a compiled language. This simply means that it’s a programming language that revolves around the concept of ‘objects’ which contain data and methods. As a compiled language, Java code needs to be turned into machine code after being written in a process known as compilation.

Whereas, JavaScript is a scripting language and an interpreted language (not compiled). This means the code gets executed and turned into machine code on runtime; every single time the script had to run.

Syntax

Although both have C-like syntax, Java is a strongly typed, static language while, JavaScript is a weakly typed, dynamic language.

Java makes use of classes; which represents a set of properties or methods that are common to objects of one type. JavaScript does not make use of classes (until Ecmascript 6) but uses prototype based object orientation.

Platform

Java programs run in Java virtual machine (JVM) while, JavaScript programs run on a web browser. The implication of this is that when installing Java on your computer, you’d have to install Java development kit (JDK) as well as Java Runtime Environment (JRE). With JavaScript, there’s no need to install anything as it runs on the browser and most modern browsers understand it. All you’d need to do is enable it on your browser (if it is disabled)

Which Language You Should Learn First

If you’re new to programming and are looking to focus more on Web development; JavaScript would be advisable to learn first as it is unavoidable in the web development world and is also relatively easier to learn.

If you’re looking to have a career in software development as a whole (mostly backend), learning Java would be wise as it’s a prominent language used in the server side and exposing yourself to Java will give you a better insight on the fundamentals of programming.

Ideally, most web developers are encouraged to learn JavaScript while android developers mostly make use of Java.

If you’re a developer looking for what language to use for your next project, Java and JavaScript are mostly used for different things.

Lean towards Java if your project involves:

Android development
Data analytics
Server-side technologies like Apache or Glassfish
Cryptography
Game development

Lean towards JavaScript if your project involves:

Front end technologies like Jquery
Dynamic and animated websites
Server-side technologies like Nodejs
Cloud Computing
Digital art

Demand

According to a report from developer skills tester Devskiller, JavaScript tops the list of the most in-demand skills of 2020 with Java in 3rd place. The report shows 72% and 53% of tech industries are looking for JavaScript and Java developers respectively.

This amongst several reports shows that the demand for both languages are quite high and continue to increase over the years.

The demand of JavaScript and Java is also predicted to remain high in the foreseeable future. With JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue and its server side language, Nodejs; JavaScript does not seem to be going away anytime soon.

Java’s use cases have expanded to Dara science applications, Machine learning applications and even ioT which makes the future of Java developers quite certain.

Summary

To conclude, Java and JavaScript are in most ways dissimilar. Although they are both impressive programming languages that are in high demand and were somewhat inspired by the C programming language, there were created for different purposes and are mostly used for different tasks.

Thanks for reading our article, you can read similar useful articles on the topic of programming on our website.