Python vs. Javascript: Which Should Beginners Learn in 2024

Choosing the right programming language to learn can significantly impact your learning journey and future career opportunities. In 2023, JavaScript and Python stood out as the top two most-used programming languages among developers worldwide, with 63% of the respondents using JavaScript and 49% using Python.

If you're just starting on your programming journey, it's crucial to understand the key features of the programming languages you are learning and how they can be used in various fields. In this article, we’ll compare Python and JavaScript, and their applications in fields like web development, data science, automation, etc. to help you choose the programming language that best aligns with your learning and career goals.

Comparing Syntax Between Python and JavaScript

Before we dive into more details, let’s have a look at their syntax and compare them side-by-side.

Code Block

Python uses indentation for code blocks. You can indent your Python code using whitespace (spacebar or tab) and use the same number of whitespaces for all code in the same block.

if x >= 2:
    print("x is larger or equal to 2")
else:
    print("x is smaller than 2")

On the other hand, JavaScript uses curly braces {} for code blocks. As long as the lines of code for the same block are contained within the same curly braces, the indentation doesn't matter.

if (x >= 2) {
    console.log("x is larger or equal to 2");
} else {
    console.log("x is smaller than 2");
}

🐻 Bear Tips: Although JavaScript uses curly braces for code blocks, it’s a good practice to use proper indentation and alignment to improve the readability of your code.

Comment

In Python, single-line comments start with # but multi-line comments are unavailable. However, you can combine multiple single-line comments to make them a multi-line comment.

# This is a single-line comment in Python

# Combine multiple single-line comments
# to make them a multi-line comment like this

In JavaScript, single-line comments start with //, and multi-line comments start with /* and end with */.

// This is a single-line comment in JavaScript

/*
This is a multi-line comment in JavaScript
*/

Variable Definition

Variables in Python are declared using a variable name and an assignment operator =. They do not need to be declared with a data type and the type of the variable can be changed later in the code (eg. from a string to a number).

x = "Hello there"
print(x)
# Hello there

x = 2 # redeclare x as 2
print(x)
# 2

In JavaScript, variables need to be declared using let, var, or const but their data types are not needed. These keywords determine whether the variable can be redeclared and updated or not.

var x = 1; 
var x = 2; // The var keyword allows the variable to be redeclared
console.log(x); 
// 2

let y = 1; 
y = 2; 
console.log(y); // The let keyword allows the variable to be updated but not redeclared
// 2

const z = 1; 
z = 2; // The const keyword doesn't allow the variable to be updated nor redeclared

Print/Output

Python uses print() to print information to the console.

print("Hello, World!")
# Hello, World!

For JavaScript, console.log() is used.

console.log("Hello, World!");
// Hello, World!

Naming Convention

In Python, variable, function, and method names are typically written in snake_case, while class names are written in CamelCase. For constants, they are usually written in UPPER_CASE_SNAKE_CASE.

BEAN_TYPE = "Arabica"

class CoffeeBean:
    def __init__ (self, quantity):
        self.quantity = quantity

    # Function to display inventory quantity
    def inventory_quantity(self):
        return f"The {BEAN_TYPE} coffee bean has a quantity of {self.quantity}."

# Create an instance of CoffeeBean
my_coffee = CoffeeBean(10)

print(my_coffee.inventory_quantity())
# The Arabica coffee bean has a quantity of 10.

For JavaScript, variable, function, and method names are typically written in camelCase while class and constructor names are written in PascalCase. Similar to Python, constants are usually written in UPPER_CASE_SNAKE_CASE.

// Define a constant
const BEAN_TYPE = "Arabica";

class CoffeeBean {
    constructor(quantity) {
        this.quantity = quantity;
    }

    // Function to display inventory quantity
    inventoryQuantity() {
        return `The ${BEAN_TYPE} coffee bean has a quantity of ${this.quantity}.`;
    }
}

// Create an instance of CoffeeBean
let myCoffee = new CoffeeBean(10);

console.log(myCoffee.inventoryQuantity());
// The Arabica coffee bean has a quantity of 10.

These are just some basic syntax differences that you should be aware of when you’re starting. For more details, you can refer to Python and JavaScript’s documentation.

Python vs. JavaScript: Which is Better?

Web Development

Python

Python has powerful frameworks like Django and Flask that can speed up the backend development for web apps. It is preferable among other programming languages for web apps related to data science and machine learning, thanks to its rich ecosystem of libraries and packages for these fields. If your web app needs to process large amounts of data, perform complex calculations, or use machine learning algorithms, Python is a great choice.

JavaScript 👍🏻

JavaScript is a key language in web development. It can be used for building interactive user interfaces for the frontend and handling logic at the backend. For frontend development, JavaScript has several frameworks like React, Vue.js, and Angular. These frameworks helps you to build a responsive frontend and handle data-binding and page-routing easily.

As for the backend, there are Node.js and Express.js. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows JavaScript code to be executed outside of a web browser and run on the server side. It also allows you to install various libraries to speed up your back-end development using npm. Express.js is a small framework that works on top of Node.js to help you build RESTful APIs with Node.js.

As JavaScrip supports both frontend and backend developments, you can build a full-stack web app by just learning a single programming language.

Mobile App Development

Python

Python is not typically used for mobile app development. However, there are Python frameworks like Kivy and BeeWare that allow you to develop cross-platform mobile apps in Python. You can write your app in Python and release them on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android.

JavaScript 👍🏻

JavaScript can be used for mobile app development, particularly cross-platform mobile apps. JavaScript frameworks like React Native, Ionic, and NativeScript allow you to write your mobile app in JavaScript and compile it to native Android and iOS mobile apps. Like JavaScript web frameworks, these frameworks come with collections of UI components that can help you build the app’s user interface easily.

However, it’s important to note that while these frameworks allow you to write your app in JavaScript, the performance might not be as high as apps that are written in native languages like Java (Android) or Swift (iOS).

Automation

Python 👍🏻

Python is the most popular programming language for automation. Its easy-to-read syntax and rich ecosystem that includes automation libraries like Robot Framework, Pytest, and Selenium make it easy for developers to write automation code. You can use Python to automate repetitive administrative tasks, streamline processes, perform automated testing, etc.

📖 Automate the Boring Stuff with Python (and Browserbear) with These 5 Ideas

JavaScript 👍🏻

JavaScript is another programming language that is popular for automation and scripting. Its ability to run in the browser makes it ideal for automating repetitive tasks on websites. With libraries like Selenium and Puppeteer, you can automate web actions like form filling, clicking buttons, scrolling, and more to perform web tasks automatically.

📖 How to Automate Browser Actions Using Selenium

Web Scraping

Python 👍🏻

Python is one of the most popular choices for web scraping. With the automation ability mentioned above and HTML/XML parsing library like BeautifulSoup, it is easy to extract data from websites using Python. Besides that, Python also has libraries that are designed specifically for web scraping, like Scrapy. Moreover, Python’s simplicity and readability make the code easier to write and maintain, which is especially beneficial for larger or long-term web scraping projects.

📖 Web Scraping with Python: An Introduction and Tutorial

Javascript 👍🏻

JavaScript is also a good choice for web scraping, particularly for dynamic web pages that involve client-side rendering. This is because JavaScript runs in the browser and is capable of handling user-triggered events and interacting with dynamically loaded content. You can use libraries like Puppeteer to control the web browser like a human would and retrieve information from websites efficiently.

📖 Web Scraping with JavaScript: An Introduction and Tutorial

P.S. If you're looking for other web scraping options, check out Browserbear (can be integrated into both Python and JavaScript projects using API 😉)!

Data Science

Python 👍🏻

If you’re learning programming for data science, Python is the language to learn. Besides the clean and simple syntax, Python has numerous libraries for data science—such as NumPy for numerical computation, pandas for data analysis and manipulation, and Matplotlib for data visualization. You can also use machine learning libraries like scikit-learn and Tensorflow to do classification, clustering, and making predictions. These libraries make Python an excellent environment for data science or any data-related tasks.

JavaScript

Compared to Python, JavaScript is not commonly used in data science as it doesn’t have rich data science libraries like Python. Besides that, as a single-threaded language, JavaScript is also not suitable for CPU/computationally intensive tasks, which are often required in data science projects. Although there are libraries like Tensorflow.js that make machine learning models used in data science available in JavaScript, other languages like Python and R have much better ecosystems and communities for data science.

Conclusion

When deciding between learning Python or JavaScript as your first language, it's crucial to evaluate the job prospects and industry demand for professionals skilled in both languages.

Python is more suitable for data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, scientific computing, and backend web development.  It has a wide range of libraries and packages specifically tailored for these fields. JavaScript, on the other hand, is more suitable for web and mobile app development. It allows you to develop full-stack apps using a single programming language.

While both languages offer promising prospects, it’s important to think about your personal preferences, interests, and career goals when choosing so that it aligns with your interests and passion too!