C# vs Python, both are high-level programming languages that are easy to learn and code. They offer high performance and provides the power of implementing object-oriented concepts. Python is much more flexible and easy to learn and C# is widely used in enterprise applications.
What is C#?
C# or C-Sharp is a high-level modern programming language, which is used to develop an enormous number of big scale and complex applications.
In 2002, Microsoft Corporation released the first version of C# as a part of .NET framework. Anders Hejlsberg created the language with his team that was later accepted by Ecma (ECMA-334) in 2002 and ISO (ISO/IEC 23270) in 2003. It was originally named as Cool (C-like Object Oriented Language), and later it was named after a musical notation due to the trademark issues. Since then, Microsoft has been doing continuous exertions to bring innovation and latest features in C# language. After 7.0 version, their team released three more small versions to accommodate some new features in the language. C# version 8.0 is the latest major release that specifically targets .NET Core and enables the developers to create cross platform applications.
Benefits of C#?
C# is a multi-paradigm high level programming language that is used to develop large and complex applications. In C#, CLR compiles the code into managed code (MSIL) and Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler converts complete code into native machine instructions to execute the commands. The classes are grouped together in a single or multiple namespace enables you to make a set of reusable libraries.
Cross Platform Applications
Microsoft introduced the new version of C# .NET framework in 2016, which is compatible with Windows, Linux and MAC operating systems. It is getting major involvement by the community to make more improvements in the next version of this language.
Garbage Collection
In C#, memory management is not the responsibility of a programmer. Hence, Garbage Collector manages the memory automatically in .NET applications. The Common Language Runtime (CLR) allocates or releases the memory by keeping an updated graph whenever the object is disposed off or being called by a function.
Overloading
C# provides the flexibility of overloading the functions, i.e. having same name but different parameters to cater the different needs of an application.
.Net Language
C# is also called as a .Net language. It supports the interoperability i.e. it can access any code written in .Net framework and make a part of its own application. You can also access COM components, which is easier to implement than any other language.
Abstraction
The generic idea of an abstraction is not to be associated with any specific instance or a member. In C#, the same idea implies here i.e. class or method does not need to be associated with any specific instance.
LINQ
LINQ pronounced as “Link” is a .NET component that allows the processing of the native queries directly into C# language. Microsoft Cooperation released LINQ as a major component with C#. It has predefined set of methods to apply queries on the result of data.
What is Python?
Python is an open-source, interpreted and general-purpose programming as a successor to ABC programming language. Guido van Rossum started working on the formation of the language in the late 1980s and released the first version of Python in 1991. The second version was released in 2000 with some incredible features, which includes garbage collection, Unicode and comprehensions. Python 3.0 was released with major revision and it was not backward compatible. It was designed as highly flexible language with modules. Python typically follows a one rule i.e. ‘There should be one way of doing it’ unlike Perl language that had a different motto, ‘There is one more way to do it’.
Benefits of Python?
Python is a high-level interpreted language with the focus on writing code rather than thinking of data types. It handles the data types as it comes in its way, and that is the reason it is highly readable programming language. It is an open source programming language, which can be used for commercial projects under GPL license. It has a flexibility to be integrated with other third party languages and applications. It has been a top priority by many data-driven companies since the language has gone a drastic change since its first release.
Data Structures
Python provides the dynamic execution of a program, which makes it easy to be understand by the programmers. It handles the conversion of data types at runtime when the application starts.
Third Party Integration
Python can integrate an enormous third-party modules with the help of Python Package Index (PyPI).
Open Source
Python is free to use under the license of GPL It has an active support community that is contributing a major role in stabilizing and deep exploration of a language.
Readability
Python has the power of excellent readability and provides proper written code. It has a PEP 8 documentation available to format the programming language.
Ongoing Database Layer Support
As compared to C#, the database access layer to handle the transactions of a database in still underdeveloped in Python. It cannot be used in large complex database applications.
C# vs Python. Head to Head Comparison
Programming Speed
C#
C# has a predefined set of libraries that are used in a specific syntax to achieve a simple Hello World program. You can use some tips and tricks to speed up the programming in C#, for example, by choosing the datatype before using it or finding the best way to for the assignment of variables, etc.
Python
Python is highly readable programming language and puts emphasis more on the coding rather than learning the syntax. It has a simple syntax and it does not require any semi colon to be added in every line of code to break the line statement.
Dynamic vs Static
C#
C# is a static programming language. It compiles the written code before the execution of a program and helps in identifying compilation errors. It is necessary that the data types must be identified before the runtime else the program will throw an exception and will not be compiled.
Python
Python is a dynamic programming language, which implies that the data type of the calling variables will be figured out at run time.
Performance
C#
C# is a compiled programming language that increases the compilation time of a program.
Python
Python is an interpreted language and relies on the interpreter. It runs immediately when the program starts
Application
C#
C# is a high-level object oriented programming language that can be used to build a wide variety of applications from desktop to game development. It has a limited number of libraries for the implementation of the machine learning applications as compared to Python language.
Python
Python is royalty free and open source multi-paradigm language, used to develop enormous applications and has the major support in machine learning applications. The famous libraries that are used to build highly scalable and extensive applications are Pandas, NumPy, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and many more.
License
C#
C# is also an open-source programming language but not like Python. The official IDE of C# is Microsoft Visual Studio, which is a paid software for large enterprises and organizations. It also has a free version for individual developers and small community but with limited features in it.
Python
Python is an open-source general-purpose programming language under the license of GPL. It is available to everyone to use it and can also contribute to the community of Python. It is much cheaper than the C#, which requires licensing cost to develop .NET applications.
Which language should you learn first?
C# has an organized structure and has consistencies in the programming syntax. You can develop a different niche of complex applications and implement the concepts of object-oriented programming easily. It is predominantly strong in building windows applications. C# is statically typed language, which allows the compilations errors to be identified before the execution of a program. The source code is checked before compiling into application. It is famous in building desktop and web applications. The latest version of C# is compatible with other platforms like Linux and MAC operating systems.
Python is an open-source and free programming language, typically focus on writing independent code with investing much time on writing the code and taking care of data types. It is an interpreted language, which makes it faster to run and is heavily dependent on the interpreter. It is a dynamic language, which means that the development process is relatively faster than compiled statically language. It has gained importance globally after the one of the main giant Google has accepted this as one of it official programming language.
It is relatively harder to say which language would be learn first as this is entirely depends on many reasons. The best way to learn any language is by doing practice and doing real world applications:
- If you want to learn quickly without focusing on the data types and need quick result, then you can go with Python.
- If you want to do data research related project, then Python has the most polished libraries, which can be of a great use in developing the application.
- If you want to integrate the Microsoft Applications and tools, then go with C# as it has the flexibility in integrating Microsoft tools quickly.
- If your requirement is high speed and high performance, you must go with Python.
In the end, both languages are famous and are being used worldwide by many programmers and large companies. They both have a mature syntax and a set of various extensive libraries to develop applications.
Keeping both strengths and weaknesses at the same time, you must be devoted in learning any programming language.
