Let’s take a look at the differences and similarities in Java and Go, two globally popular programming languages.

Java vs Go: A quick glance

Java is the older and more widely used programming language. It is object-oriented, has a larger community—thus library, and relies on the Java virtual machine (JVM).

Go, or Golang, is newer, supports concurrency, is more readable, and is not object-oriented.

The Java programming language

Java is old. It was developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a part of Sun’s Java Platform.

Java basics

Java is a general-purpose programming language that utilizes classes and is object-oriented. Java is designed to run anywhere. It uses its Java Virtual Machine to interpret compiled code. The JVM acts as both an interpreter and an error detector.

Programming in Java can be easy because Java has many libraries built on top of it, making it easy to find code already written for a specific purpose.

(Learn more about how Java works.)

Java popularity

With its ties to Sun Microsystems, Java was the most widely used server-side language. Though that is no longer the case, with Python surging in popularity. Still, Java reigned supreme for long enough, garnering a large community that, even today, continues to support it.