What is the difference between Java and JavaScript?

The Internet is flooded with statements like Java and Javascript are similar to cars and carpet. But it does not hold true anymore.

It often happens that programmers get confused between Java and JavaScript. Thinking both Java and JavaScript to be the same.

As both Java and JavaScript refer to the same OOP language and share the same control structures and operators. But when you will learn them individually, you will get to know they are completely different from each other.

Java

Java is a popular object programming language invented by James Gosling and developed by Sun Micro-Systems. It is a general-purpose high-level programming language created in the year 1995.

James Gosling initially developed Java in Sun Micro-Systems (which was later merged with Oracle Corporation). Java is a set of features of C and C++. It has obtained its format from C, and OOP features from C++.

Originally Java was named as OAK but later it changed into Java. With its virtual machine platform, it allows you to create compiled programs that run on nearly every platform.

Benefits

• Java is platform-independent and flexible in nature. The most significant feature of Java is to run a program easily from one computer system to another. 
• It can also be distributed among servers and clients in a network.
• It can be used in a wide variety of computing platforms to enterprise servers and supercomputers.
• It can be used to make mobile applications, web and desktop applications, games and much more.

JavaScript

JavaScript was developed by Brendan Eich in 1995, which appeared in Netscape, a popular browser of that time.

JavaScript is a lightweight programming language of HTML and Web used to make web pages interactive. As a multi-paradigm language, it supports event-driven, functional, imperative, and programming styles.

JavaScript is a very powerful client-side scripting language. JavaScript is used mainly for enhancing the interaction of a user with the webpage. In other words, you can make your webpage livelier and more interactive, with the help of JavaScript.

It was first known as Live Script, but later Netscape changed its name to JavaScript.

Benefits

• Adding interactive behavior to web pages.
• Developers can use various JavaScript frameworks for developing and building web and mobile apps.
• Beyond websites and apps, developers can also use JavaScript to build simple web servers and develop the back-end infrastructure using Node.js.

Differences Between Java and JavaScript

It is a very common thought that both Java and JavaScript are the same. But the truth is there is nothing common between them except their name Java. Both are completely different and have nothing to do with each other. Their working, functionality, and capabilities all are very different.

List of key differences

If we traveled back in time, there would be a simple comparison like Java is a general-purpose coding language, and JavaScript is used on the web applications to make them interactive and animated. Now that JS has “grown-up,” the comparison is much more complicated here.

As Java has so many important features it is a most used programming language. Whereas JavaScript, on the other hand, possesses some features that Java lacks. JavaScript does not require any compiler or editor; it is considered as the easiest language to learn.

Thus, both Java and JavaScript carrying different features are equally important in their areas of requirement.

Conclusion

Both Java and JavaScript are different languages and have no similarity except the syntactic resemblance. After going through the above comparison between Java and JavaScript you can very well know about their differences and similarities. Java is a general-purpose language used for developing desktop or mobile or web-based applications.

On the contrary, JavaScript is a client-side scripting language used for designing the behavior and interactivity for web-based applications. However, both are very popular and effective while creating interaction between the user and the web page.