Which has more scope in backend development?

is there a good reason to have java as your first language over languages like python or js?

I’m sorta stuck at a pathway where I need to either dive deep into java or Python web development. As much as I would like say I can do either and still be employable in the other, it just doesn’t work like that where I live. You’re either a Python web developer or a Java one.

For the past year I have had python development experience in IT Automation style tasks. essentially taking things that the it team does and automating it into a web application. It was nice because I was able to make new features. Now, I’m working on java development on a larger project and it sorta sucks cause all I do is bug fixes and everything is slow.

I’d love to work for a large company like what I do now but they all require java. They rarely ever want a python developer unless you’re DevOps. So I can continue what I’m doing now to get java experience and then be able to score a nice java enterprise job hopefully in the future.

Or I can jump ship and try to find a python development job, but a lot of the positions aren’t pure software engineering and are mainly in startups but I don’t want to work more than 40 hours a week. But, it does seem nice because the python development usually means the product is new so there’s a lot of features to be worked.

There is another company that is pretty much hiring people for another IT automation effort which is almost EXACTLY what I did before and I could probably score a raise.... the only thing I’m nervous about is if I go down this python web Road, all the companies in my area always want java developers so I feel like I’ll be starting further and further from being able to stay at large corporations unless I go into DevOps or something.

I mean I like DevOps as in development of operations and tools, but I don’t like the ops side. Standing up and maintaining tools like Atlassian, Docker and stuff is sort of boring to me. I like writing out code.

What scenario calls for which language over the other? Both have similar capabilities but which of the two would be superior as far as for a full stack dev to know?

What language is more advantageous, Java or Python? What do you think?

Hi,

I am a university graduate who would like to change my career to IT. I want to apply for a requalification course and basically I have two options available - both courses are "Programmer of web applications" - one is in Java and the other is in Python.

I need some help from someone who knows the industry and the pros and cons of choosing either language. I have read a lot of articles and watched youtube videos and it's practically 50:50. I am leaning towards Python though.

I know your first question will be: What do you want to do in IT?

But that's the problem, I don't know. I have never worked in IT and I haven't experienced different types or jobs to be able to know which I like the most. It's like asking me which food from the menu I liked the most before I had a chance to taste it. I like design, so possibly frontend. But I am open to anything. I think fullstack would be a good skillset to have to find lots of work?

What I know:

Java is more complex to write, harder to learn for a beginner. It is used in web development, Android and in a lot of big companies. It is supposedly harder to change fields in IT if you know Java. The popularity of it is slightly decreasing and the community as well (from what I've heard).

Python is easier to write and read, is used in machine learning and AI and databases. Generally slower than Java to execute, has more potential when you are trying to change fields in IT as it is more widely used.

That's what I know. What I need, is help with this question: As someone (a teacher) who is trying to change career and do something that will enable me to find work easily, which language should I choose to learn to open myself to most job opportunities, something that will be a good start, give me most options for the future and will not lock me in in a specific field, should I realise I do not like it. How should I make a decision? Can you tell me in more detail which language is used in which specific types of jobs and what kind of stuff I could do should I learn Python/Java?

Thank you in advance!

Ben

Hi everyone, so as long as I know, Python is an easier language to start learning programming, however, I might have a greater oportunity of getting a kind of internship or even (long term goal, crossing fingers) a job at a company that works with Java because of connections.

What is your experience?

tl;dr: Trying to decide between learning Python or Java to break into professional development. I like Python, but Java seems to be in more demand. Thoughts?

Hi all! In a nutshell, I earned a bachelor's degree in a field completely unrelated to IT in 2011, but I got into tech support shortly after and wandered into some basic infrastructure stuff. I'm really enjoying it, but I know that, long term, the only thing that's going to be able to hold my interested is development.

I know HTML/CSS, some Grails (long story), and enough PHP to make a functioning website but not an elegant one. My apps work, but most of the time I find I'm coming at tricky stuff with a sledgehammer rather than any kind of nuance. The plan right now is to build up a portfolio of projects and try to eventually get into a development job—I just don't know which language to commit to first.

• I'm a fan of PHP and am getting a pretty good grounding in building dynamic sites with it, but I suspect it's only because it's easier to fake a solution than it is in the compiled languages. I'm under the impression that, going forward, this probably isn't a particularly attractive language to set myself apart.

• Learning Python is at the top of my list right now, and checking out Django only encouraged me further. But...

• Every job listing I come across is for Java. I try to peruse a few of the standard websites every once in a while to see if I can't glean any insight into what I might try, and Java seems to outnumber the other listings at least 10 to 1. I'm in a pretty big city, so it's not like there are 11 listings total, but there are noticeably more.

In any case, thanks very much for reading this far. I know learning multiple languages for different tasks is the big-picture answer, but I really want to work at understanding the ins and outs of one for starters, rather than learning enough to smash something together and not going any further.

edit: Formatting

I just started learning full-stack development from an institute in Bangalore. The course covers both Java and Python. I’m confused about which one to focus on — is Java still relevant and does it have a future?

The course includes:

Programming (Java & Python) Git DSA Databases Web frameworks HTML, CSS, JS React Automated testing Apart from these, are there any other technologies I should keep an eye on to stay relevant in the future?

Would really appreciate some advice!

It's 2025, and I'm at a decision point in my programming journey. I want to dive deep into one language and can't decide between Python and Java.

Here's my context: i am a developer with 10 year experience in java and 5 years in python

• Python: It's dominating fields like AI/ML, data science, web development, and automation. With its growing libraries and frameworks, it feels like a must-know for cutting-edge tech.

• Java: Despite being older, it's still a powerhouse for enterprise systems, Android development (with Kotlin in the mix), and large-scale backend solutions. Its stability and performance are undeniable.

For backend* and why?

I will just be to the point, I just find it fun to learn how to code and want to be able to independent create code create things without error. There’s an interval between where I learn hello world then language I don’t understand. It’s very small and I don’t know where. Is it all important to learn?

When I picked up programming I started with Python but now mainly use Java. I want to do frontend so I just recently started learning JavaScript. Before I thought JavaScript was a language for frontend only, but now I realized that it could be used for backend and I'm thinking why don't people recommend JavaScript since it has the same concepts as Python and Java but it has more uses?

I'm a web developer working with HTML, CSS and PHP and I know enough Javascript to get by. When I was a kid I used to code in Visual Basic, and I wanted to get back into that style of programming. So I started taking a C Sharp course.

However, I'm starting to think I'm really marginalizing myself by learning C sharp, because it seems really specific to enterprise apps (or games with Unity) and not widely used. I'd rather learn something more relevant to the industry, particularly that I can use with web applications, but also standalone Windows or console apps.

So now I'm looking into Java vs. Python. I've heard Java is the better place to start because it's easier to learn and more familiar with C languages and Javascript. Knowing Java might also help me improve my JS. But I feel like most of the interesting applications I see are written with Python. I know you can do those same things in Java, like machine learning and web scraping apps, but I haven't seen it done.

Can someone please give me an example of the kinds of applications people are building with Java vs. Python?

I will start out (new grad) as a full stack developer in a banking firm.

I have been given the choice to either become a python dev(flask framework) or java dev(spring framework).

Furthermore, I am proficient in Python and flask (my previous internship was with flask) while almost a newbie in java, but I feel being a java developer would help me in the long run.

Would it be beneficial to start my career as a python developer or java developer?

Any advice is really appreciated as my family doesn't have tech background.

Edit: I opted for java but as it is with any big org, they put me in a python team 😂.

Got to work on a data science project and use flask on day to day basis. Since the senior devs in my team are originally java devs, the code base is almost like java with the typing, oop based etc.

I learn new stuff every quarter and I like python. So happy with how fate turned out