Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Java

141.3K
99.4K
+ 1
3.7K
OCaml

308
171
+ 1
28
Add tool

Java vs OCaml: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the key differences between Java and OCaml. Java is a widely-used, general-purpose programming language that is known for its object-oriented approach, while OCaml is a functional programming language that emphasizes immutability and type inference.

  1. Execution Model: In Java, programs are executed by a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) which interprets bytecode. This allows Java programs to be highly portable across different operating systems. On the other hand, OCaml programs are compiled into native machine code, which can result in faster execution speed.

  2. Type System: Java has a static type system, meaning that variable types must be declared at compile-time and cannot change during runtime. This helps in catching type errors early in the development process. In contrast, OCaml has a strong static type system with type inference, which infers the types of variables based on their usage without explicit type declarations.

  3. Concurrency Model: Java provides built-in support for multithreading and concurrent programming through the use of threads and synchronization primitives. This allows for parallel execution of tasks. OCaml, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for concurrent programming but provides libraries like Lwt that enable the usage of cooperative concurrency through lightweight threads and promises.

  4. Memory Management: Java uses automatic garbage collection to manage memory. It automatically deallocates memory for objects that are no longer in use. OCaml, on the other hand, uses a combination of automatic memory management and manual memory management techniques like finalization and weak references. This allows for more fine-grained control over memory allocation and deallocation.

  5. Exception Handling: Java uses a structured exception handling mechanism where exceptions are caught using try-catch blocks. This allows for more fine-grained control over error handling and recovery. OCaml, on the other hand, uses a functional approach to error handling where exceptions are represented as variant types and can be pattern matched on. This allows for more expressive error handling and composition.

  6. Language Paradigm: Java is primarily an object-oriented programming language, where objects and classes are the central concepts. It supports procedural programming as well, but the emphasis is on objects and their interactions. OCaml, on the other hand, is a functional programming language that emphasizes immutability, higher-order functions, and pattern matching. It supports imperative programming as well, but the focus is on functional programming constructs.

In summary, Java and OCaml differ in their execution model, type system, concurrency model, memory management, exception handling, and language paradigms. While Java is more suitable for building large-scale enterprise applications, OCaml excels in areas such as scientific and symbolic computing, language processing, and theorem proving due to its functional nature and strong type system.

Advice on Java and OCaml
Kamal Makroum
Needs advice
on
JavaJavaPythonPython
and
ReactReact

Hi everyone.

I am willing to build a used car sales platform, which will have a lot of stock/photos and will rely a lot on the back end functions and data generating. Java seems to be a good choice, but what other options can I consider that can also be easily scalable as well as a little faster to write?

Thank you

See more
Replies (2)
Ruslan Rayanov
Recommends

Hi, Kamal! I don't know if your question is still relevant. But I would like to introduce you to our solution, perhaps it will be useful for future projects. We have developed a web application constructor that can be used to create almost any website or application https://falconspace.site/. The entire development stack is reduced to SQL only. The platform is easy to configure and make subsequent changes if necessary.

See more
Recommends

Firstly, you must know that java and python are both amazing languages. But I recommend python mainly because of the variety of modules and packages available to do almost anything. If you are planning on adding graphs, you can use the matplotlib library and to add photos, use the pillow module. And just note that both of these aren't available by default, so you need to install them through pip.

See more
Needs advice
on
JavaJavaLuaLua
and
PythonPython

I am trying to make Roblox game which requires Lua. I quite don't want to go with Lua just because other tools just might let me do more projects later on. I heard that Python is most similar to Lua, but I am still not sure which tool to use. Java, I think it will help me with many stuff later on for websites, projects, and more!

See more
Replies (2)
Rafey Iqbal Rahman
Recommends
on
LuaLua
at

Since you are trying to make a Roblox game, you have no other option than to use Lua, since Roblox only allows coding in Lua. Yes, you've heard right, Python is identical and as easy as Lua, although Lua is easier than Python. Beginning from Lua and then escalating to Python is recommended. Java is only helpful when you are creating a heavy, big-budget, enterprise-level product, otherwise, Python would suffice.

See more
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

If you really hate lua check out roblox-ts, a tool that compiles typescript code into roblox lua. https://github.com/roblox-ts/roblox-ts

See more
Needs advice
on
JavaJavaPHPPHP
and
PythonPython

Hi everyone, I have just started to study web development, so I'm very new in this field. I would like to ask you which tools are most updated and good to use for getting a job in medium-big company. Front-end is basically not changing by time so much (as I understood by researching some info), so my question is about back-end tools. Which backend tools are most updated and requested by medium-big companies (I am searching for immediate job possibly)?

Thank you in advance Davit

See more
Replies (4)
Pierrick Martos
Engineering Manager at Akeneo · | 20 upvotes · 315.4K views
Recommends
on
PythonPython

Go with Python definetly. It's used everywhere by web developers for backend developments : API, website backend, workers... but also by data scientists (lot lot of resources, models and libraries in Python it's language #1). For the web parts, best web framework are in Python : https://stackshare.io/microframeworks (Flask #2 and Django #3). Java is good but trend is not great in terms of popularity amongs developers and tech leaders.

See more
Vijayakumar Rajagopal
Recommends
on
JavaJava

As per my experience java is most wanted for web development as of now. micro service is evolving . with frameworks like spring boot supports rapid development. Spring boot + Docker + kubernetes great combination.

See more
sharik zama
Software engineering Intern at EPAM Systems · | 5 upvotes · 314.5K views
Recommends
on
JavaScriptJavaScript

I would recommend learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (most important). JavaScript forms the backbone of web development. And, there are many popular and widely used frameworks like Angular and React that heavily rely on the knowledge of JavaScript. The number of job opportunities are much more when it comes to javascript.

See more
Chathuranga Bandara
Recommends
on
PythonPython

I would recommend Python as the programming language and as you are a new developer, Flask to start with. It gives you a solid understanding on the web patterns such as REST and will get you up and running in no time. However, I suggest you to read and study on front-end technologies like (React or Vue) and databases (SQL and NoSQL) and probably some NodeJS as well. First grasp the concepts (which Python is ideal for) then it does not really matter the language as such.

See more
Decisions about Java and OCaml
Noel Broda
Founder, CEO, CTO at NoFilter · | 5 upvotes · 227.8K views

1 code deploys for both: Android and iOS. There is a huge community behind React Native. And one of the best things is Expo. Expo uses React Native to make everything even more and more simple. Awesome technologies. Some other important thing is that while using React Native, you are reusing all JavaScript knowledge you have in your team. You can move easily a frontend dev to develop mobile applications.

A huge PRO of Expo, is that it includes a full building process. You run 1 line in the terminal, and 10 minutes after you have 2 builds done. Double check EAS Expo.

See more
Erik Ralston
Chief Architect at LiveTiles · | 14 upvotes · 542.9K views

C# and .Net were obvious choices for us at LiveTiles given our investment in the Microsoft ecosystem. It enabled us to harness of the .Net framework to build ASP.Net MVC, WebAPI, and Serverless applications very easily. Coupled with the high productivity of Visual Studio, it's the native tongue of Microsoft technology.

See more
Brent Maxwell

Node.js has been growing in popularity, and the ability to access the global pool of Javascript developers is great. There is a decreased amount of effort for people to work across the frontend and backend, and the language itself is easy and works well for many common use cases.

Go was the other serious candidate, but it just hasn't been implemented in as many Production systems yet, and the best Go engineers I've known have been hackers, whereas we're building a robust analytics platform that requires more caution. Type safety is easily added with TypeScript, and NPM is awesomely handy.

See more
Chose
GolangGolang
over
JavaJava

When developing a new blockchain, we as a team chose Go lang over Java and other candidates, due to Go being (a) natively suited to concurrency - there are primitives in the language itself (goroutines, channels) that really help with reasoning about concurrency (b) super fast - build time, running, testing are all much faster that Java, this gives a far superior developer experience (c) shorter and stricter than Java - code is much shorter (less verbose), and there is usually one good way to do things, and even the code formatter that is bundled with Go is very opinionated - over a short time this makes reading other people's code far smoother than having to deal with different styles.

You should be aware that Go presently (v1.13) lacks Generics.

See more
Alaeddin Alzeybek
Head of Engineering at Volt Lines · | 1 upvote · 210.4K views

From cross platform development point of view: Using kotlin multiplatform is more convenient than java for implementing cross platform code, since it can be converted to be used in iOS (swift) projects, and it can be easily learned if you already know swift. It still an experimental feature but it helped so far to unify a lot of the common code between our iOS and Android projects. And it is more future proof than java regarding support and maintain multiplatform converting.

See more

We needed to incorporate Big Data Framework for data stream analysis, specifically Apache Spark / Apache Storm. The three options of languages were most suitable for the job - Python, Java, Scala.

The winner was Python for the top of the class, high-performance data analysis libraries (NumPy, Pandas) written in C, quick learning curve, quick prototyping allowance, and a great connection with other future tools for machine learning as Tensorflow.

The whole code was shorter & more readable which made it easier to develop and maintain.

See more
Kyle Harrison
Web Application Developer at Fortinet · | 2 upvotes · 141.6K views

The decision behind choosing a server side technology is never an easy one. Every single language has it's pro's and con's around each.

For me, this decision came down to a couple simple points: 1. Node is a web tech first class citizen, designed around handling web events, in a web technology world 2. Asynchronous

The thing about Python and Java is that they TOO can handle these, and handle these very well. Java for instance powers most of Twitter and Netflix's architecture. Where Python is what's behind giants like Instagram and Patreon. Certainly, you can't go wrong. Heck, Ruby powered GitHub and GitLab, and those things see HUGE traffic.

But this project is a web technology first. And node feels right at home as it itself is a web technology. This decision was more about homogeneous synergy than most anything else. I need it to be screaming fast, asynchronous, and play extremely well with web standards.

Node fits the bill on every front.

See more
Nick Parsons
Building cool things on the internet 🛠️ at Stream · | 11 upvotes · 150.9K views

I work at Stream and I'm immensely proud of what our team is working on here at the company. Most recently, we announced our Android SDK accompanied by an extensive tutorial for Java and Kotlin. The tutorial covers just about everything you need to know when it comes to using our Android SDK for Stream Chat. The Android SDK touches many features offered by Stream Chat – more specifically, typing status, read state, file uploads, threads, reactions, editing messages, and commands. Head over to https://getstream.io/tutorials/android-chat/ and give it a whirl!

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Java
Pros of OCaml
  • 599
    Great libraries
  • 445
    Widely used
  • 400
    Excellent tooling
  • 395
    Huge amount of documentation available
  • 334
    Large pool of developers available
  • 208
    Open source
  • 202
    Excellent performance
  • 157
    Great development
  • 150
    Used for android
  • 148
    Vast array of 3rd party libraries
  • 60
    Compiled Language
  • 52
    Used for Web
  • 46
    High Performance
  • 46
    Managed memory
  • 44
    Native threads
  • 43
    Statically typed
  • 35
    Easy to read
  • 33
    Great Community
  • 29
    Reliable platform
  • 24
    Sturdy garbage collection
  • 24
    JVM compatibility
  • 22
    Cross Platform Enterprise Integration
  • 20
    Universal platform
  • 20
    Good amount of APIs
  • 18
    Great Support
  • 14
    Great ecosystem
  • 11
    Backward compatible
  • 11
    Lots of boilerplate
  • 10
    Everywhere
  • 9
    Excellent SDK - JDK
  • 7
    It's Java
  • 7
    Cross-platform
  • 7
    Static typing
  • 6
    Mature language thus stable systems
  • 6
    Better than Ruby
  • 6
    Long term language
  • 6
    Portability
  • 5
    Clojure
  • 5
    Vast Collections Library
  • 5
    Used for Android development
  • 4
    Most developers favorite
  • 4
    Old tech
  • 3
    History
  • 3
    Great Structure
  • 3
    Stable platform, which many new languages depend on
  • 3
    Javadoc
  • 3
    Testable
  • 3
    Best martial for design
  • 2
    Type Safe
  • 2
    Faster than python
  • 0
    Job
  • 7
    Satisfying to write
  • 6
    Pattern matching
  • 4
    Also has OOP
  • 4
    Very practical
  • 3
    Easy syntax
  • 3
    Extremely powerful type inference
  • 1
    Efficient compiler

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Java
Cons of OCaml
  • 33
    Verbosity
  • 27
    NullpointerException
  • 17
    Nightmare to Write
  • 16
    Overcomplexity is praised in community culture
  • 12
    Boiler plate code
  • 8
    Classpath hell prior to Java 9
  • 6
    No REPL
  • 4
    No property
  • 3
    Code are too long
  • 2
    Non-intuitive generic implementation
  • 2
    There is not optional parameter
  • 2
    Floating-point errors
  • 1
    Java's too statically, stronglly, and strictly typed
  • 1
    Returning Wildcard Types
  • 1
    Terrbible compared to Python/Batch Perormence
  • 3
    Small community
  • 1
    Royal pain in the neck to compile large programs

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is Java?

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

What is OCaml?

It is an industrial strength programming language supporting functional, imperative and object-oriented styles. It is the technology of choice in companies where a single mistake can cost millions and speed matters,

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use Java?
What companies use OCaml?
See which teams inside your own company are using Java or OCaml.
Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

What tools integrate with Java?
What tools integrate with OCaml?

Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

Blog Posts

Oct 24 2019 at 7:43PM

AppSignal

JavaScriptNode.jsJava+8
5
948
Aug 28 2019 at 3:10AM

Segment

PythonJavaAmazon S3+16
7
2551
Jul 16 2019 at 9:19PM

Bugsnag

JavaAndroid SDKBugsnag+3
3
420
What are some alternatives to Java and OCaml?
C lang
Abstract
Abstract builds upon and extends the stable technology of Git to host and manage your work.
Golang
Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.
Python
Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.
Scala
Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.
See all alternatives