which should i learn first java or python

#Which should i learn first java or python how to
#Which should i learn first java or python code

In systems as large as those used by banks, it can be difficult to figure out what the intention of basic code is simply by looking at Python. The obvious solution is to look at unit tests but often there aren’t any because the file was created before the mandatory unit test rule was enforced. For example, JPMorgan's Athena platform has millions of lines of Python code and novice users can find it difficult to discern what kind of data is being manipulated. There are some concrete examples of Python's problems in finance. All of this is great in isolation, but it can make what is going on very opaque to others. And a language being not very verbose means a lot can be accomplished with not much code. Duck typing is where you don’t specify what the type (like integer, character or Boolean) of a variable is - it is inferred. At a scale where you're sharing and working on code with many other people, Python can present problems due to duck typing and a lack of verbosity.

#Which should i learn first java or python how to

Python is object oriented, but it’s such an open language that if you start with it first, you may lack awareness of how to structure large programs properly. Frameworks like Google Guice and Spring will introduce you to dependency injection and how to structure programs, so they are easy to test and maintain. Studying Java, you will learn important concepts around object orientation such as encapsulation, abstraction, polymorphism and inheritance.

I did this myself, and it took me a week or two to become very productive in Python. Others may disagree but I think it would be far easier to learn Python coming from a Java background than the other way around. The latest incarnations of Java contain many of the functional aspects available in Python, and whilst it lacks popular finance packages like Pandas and NumPy, it makes up for it in a rich landscape of native data structures and third-party libraries.

Opinionated Java frameworks like Spring mean that you can get a lot done with very little code. Things have moved on significantly, and overall the quality of code I see day to day is now pretty good. When I first started coding in Java at Investment Banks over a decade ago, I routinely came across horror shows of spaghetti code. However, getting a technology job can be a numbers game thanks to tortuous interview practices, and at banks and many asset managers Java still reigns supreme in the open job count. A fine choice in of itself, and very handy if you want to work at FinTechs. If you’re thinking about learning a programming language to safeguard your financial services career, or to transition into a technology job, then the language du jour is Python.