Java and JavaScript are two different programming languages meant for different purposes and functionality. Java is an application programming language designed to write stand-alone Java programs and web applications running on the Internet. JavaScript is a client-side scripting language specifically designed to work with various web technologies, but on the client’s end.
To understand the similarities and differences between Java and JavaScript, let’s dig deeper.
The table below explains the Java vs JavaScript technologies in point-wise and understandable format.
| Java | JavaScript |
| Java is an Object Oriented Programming (OOP) language created by James Gosling of Sun Microsystems (later acquired by Oracle Corporation). | JavaScript is a client-side (OOP) scripting language that was created by Netscape and was originally known as LiveScript. |
| Java programs require Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for execution. | JavaScript requires to be embedded within HTML which is then executed by a web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox. |
| Java programs need to be compiled into “byte code” before they can be executed by the JVM. Therefore, a compilation is needed every time a change is made to the code. |
JavaScript is plain text-based programming which is directly executed by a scripting engine within a browser. Therefore, change in the code does not need any conversion or compilation and can be executed directly. |
| Enabling Java in a browser does not mean that you have enabled JavaScript too. | Enabling JavaScript in a browser does not mean that you have enabled Java too. |
| Java implements static typing of data types. | Java implements dynamic typing of data types. |
| Java is a strongly-typed language. | Java is a weakly-typed language. |
| Objects in the Java language are class-based. | Objects in the JavaScript language are prototype-based. |
| Java source code is well hidden because it is compiled into an unreadable byte code. | JavaScript code can be read by any person because it is in a plain text form. |
| To make Java programs, you will probably require an entire environment, that’s Java Development Kit (JDK). | JavaScript can simply be written using any text editor. |
| Java is engineered keeping “security” as the prime priority. This is achieved using the JVM. | JavaScript is less secure compared to Java. However, there are efforts to make it secure from things like cross-site-scripting (XSS), etc. |
Do you know of more similarities or differences between Java and JavaScript? Kindly share in the comments below.
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