Why should I choose Java in the era of Python?

Source: [Javarevisited]

Reasons why learning Java is still worth it – Rinu Gour

Java isn’t platform-independent; it is a platform.”

INTRODUCTION

There’s no denying the fact that the last few years have been the years of Python. The dominance Python has had in these years doesn’t require any recognition. Programming aspirants these days are crazy for learning Python.

Though Java once had the same craze among the programmers and believe me, it still has got some dominance to prove to the IT world.
This might be the era of Python, but Java hasn’t lost its worth at all.

Often we find ourselves in a dilemma of which programming language is going to prove itself long-lasting and is going to shape our career in many ways.

Why is Java so Popular?

As a programmer, one probably looks for rapid progress, and to choose the best programming language is your basis to start with. Even if you try to find the best programming language, to begin with, you will find many different options.

There are at least six most popular programming languages, whose rankings keep on changing with time. Therefore, we can’t say any language as the best language as they all serve different purposes. If you need more reasons for Java’s popularity, you can check out this article of why Java is the best programming language for beginners and experienced alikeWhy Java is the best Programming language to Learn Coding for beginners?Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links; I may receive compensation if you purchase products or services from…dev.to

THE BIGGEST BATTLE

And here you’re facing a situation of indecision between Java and Python. This is probably the most common confusion that a programming aspirant comes across these days.

And I’ve got your back in this. I’ll make you aware of why being old school is still cool.

According to the TIOBE index for February 2020, Java firmly stands in the first position with the most significant number of searches through the most popular search engines.

While the Python language stands at the third position.

Why Choose JAVA Over PYTHON?

Java and Python are very similar and are two of the most trending buzz in the IT industry.

Java is faster than Python

Python is comparatively slower since it is interpreted language. Because it has a very easy logic, but half of your time will be spent on optimizing the runtime errors.

Multithreading is possible in Java

Java also enables real multithreading while Python’s threading is sort of virtual. It’s JVM is pretty solid. Python is inhibited by the GIL (global interpreter lock), which does not make it goof for multithreading.

Know the Class of Java

Java is truly WORA(Write Once, Run Anywhere)

The compiled code in Java can be run on any machine without recompiling it which makes it more portable than Python.

Java is safer and powerful than Python

Java is a safer language to use because it is a statically-typed language. Python is a dynamically typed language that makes it unsafe. Java is far more explicit and more strict than Python which makes it more powerful than Python.

Java has a rich set of APIs

Java has a far richer and far more robust ecosystem of libraries and tools. Its rich set of API helps to expand knowledge about Java language. A major portion of Python is written by script kiddies.

Java is very nit-picky

This is not only a good quality for beginners but also equally good for even experience holders and seniors in Java. Programmers usually tend do make stupid mistakes and Java is very good at pointing them out. Languages like Python will just pass such mistakes as warnings without giving a compilation error.

Java is an “Evergreen Programming Language”

Java is an evergreen programming language that is being used in most organizations. Python is not used as a primary language for most applications.

Python is too easy

There is a saying that you should be making things as simple as possible. Python suffers greatly from making things too simple. In Python, you assign a value to a variable without specifying its type. In Java, in order to initialize a variable, you must specify its type.

Get Cozy with Python

For exampleIn Java, for declaring a variable you would write

dataType name = value;

In Python, you just need to write

name = value

It looks much better, as you don’t need to specify a type, but in practice causes many problems. Anyone can easily overwrite an existing variable or can accidentally create a new one. So in Java, if you make a type and write dog = 5; it will give an error (unknown variable), while Python will just create a new variable called dog.

Python is easier to write while Java is easier to read!!

Here is how printing “Hello World” in Java looks like:

class MyClass{
public static void main(String[ ] args) { System.out.println(“Hello World!”); }}

Here’s the same in Python:

def main():     print(“Hello world!”)main()

And, if you want to learn Java, you can check out these courses:Top 10 Java Online Courses for BeginnersIf you are a computer science graduate or someone who wants to learn Java and looking for some awesome resources like…medium.com

Still not impressed?

You can not refrain from these interesting facts about Java:

  • Approx 95% of enterprises use Java as their primary language. This ratio is much more than C and other languages.
  • Java gets downloaded one billion times in a year.
  • A median salary of a Java developer is $83, 975.
  • Today, Java rationally runs on more than 1 billion Android applications as the Android operating system of Google uses Java APIs.

Securing Your Career with Java

When you get familiar with the JVM(Java Virtual Machine), you can easily use other languages that are similar to its environment. For example, Scala, Groovy, Kotlin, and Clojure.
Anyways, Java itself will always encourage your progress.

Java isn’t the world’s most popularly used programming language for no reason!!

Wait!!

Java can do more

“Java is an ocean of opportunities.

if(your goal is getting into AI or ML or Data Science)
then choose Pythonelse(for everything else)
then choose JAVA

Oracle, as a measure of popularity, quoted the statistics telling — “There are nine million Java developers in the world.”
This statement perfectly portrays the demand for Java and its evolution in software development in the future.

Wrapping it Up!!

Why learn Java in 2020? Because you can utilize all the benefits of a security-oriented, flexible, and dynamic programming language. Java is among all-time leaders in the programming world. Java exists everywhere and is expected to become even more important in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data developments in the closest time.

Building applications and platforms for any devices, such as computers, laptops, gaming consoles, navigation systems, terminals, monitoring facilities, etc., makes Java as the best programming language to learn in the world of Python.

Microsoft unveils its own Java distribution

Source: [InfoWorld]

Microsoft Build of OpenJDK could set up the company to compete with Oracle in the Java distribution space

In a move that could mean serious competition for Oracle in the Java space, Microsoft is previewing its own build of OpenJDK, a freely available, long-term support distribution of open source Java.

Known officially as Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, binaries of Java 11 for Windows, Linux, and MacOS are available at microsoft.com. Microsoft also is publishing an early access binary for Java 16, the latest version of standard Java, for Windows on Arm. Microsoft Azure cloud users can try the build via Azure Cloud Shell.

Also on InfoWorld: JDK 16: The new features in Java 16 ]

Builds for Java 11 are based on OpenJDK source code, following the same build scripts used by the Eclipse Adoptium project, formerly known as AdoptOpenJDK. Microsoft’s binaries have passed the Java Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) for Java 11.

Announced April 6, Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is a simple drop-in replacement for any other OpenJDK distribution in the Java ecosystem. Microsoft pledges to support Java 11 until at least 2024. OpenJDK binaries for Java 17 are due by the end of this year. Microsoft will support Java 8 binaries from Eclipse Adoptium on Azure-managed services offering Java 8 as a target runtime option.

Microsoft, with its Java build, surely has Oracle, with its popular Oracle Java Development Kit (JDK) Java releases, in its crosshairs. Microsoft said Java is one of the most important programming languages today, as it’s used for everything from critical enterprise applications to hobby robots. Microsoft has seen increasing growth in customer use of Java across the company’s cloud services and development tools.

Microsoft said its contributions to OpenJDK started as it learned about the process and how to participate in a meaningful way. During the past 18 months, the company has contributed more than 50 patches for OpenJDK, covering areas such as MacOS packaging, build and infrastructure, and garbage collection fixes. Microsoft also has collaborated with Java vendor Azul Systems and others to offer Java support.

Microsoft Build of OpenJDK binaries may contain backported fixes and enhancements deemed important to customers and internal users. Some may not have been formally backported upstream and signposted in OpenJDK release notes. Microsoft said it relies on Java technologies for some of its own internal systems, applications, and workloads; Java also powers some Azure infrastructure. The company deploys more than 500,000 JVMs internally, excluding Azure services and customer workloads.

Microsoft’s history with Java includes being sued by Java founder Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, with Sun alleging that Microsoft was distributing a version of Java that was not compatible with Sun’s, thus violating the “write once, run anywhere” principle of Java. The lawsuit was settled in 2001, with Microsoft agreeing to pay Sun $20 million. The license agreement between the two companies was terminated.

Nigeria leads in mobile app downloads, while South Africa records highest in-app spending in Africa – report

-[Business Insider Africa]

Smartphone users in Africa downloaded a record number of games and other apps as the deadly coronavirus confined millions of people to their homes. According to a new report from AppsFlyer in collaboration with Google, overall installs on the continent grew significantly in 2020, with in-app advertising (IAA) revenue receiving a boost alongside it.

The report, which examines the state of mobile in Africa throughout 2020 through to Q1 2021, was based on the analysis of 6000 mobile apps and 2billion installs across South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.

Here are key findings from the report.