hi there -
i’m curious to see if the community has weighed in on the difference between coding languages offered by Processing at this point. maybe there’s a good resource that compares and contrasts all three.
i’m in a position where i’m hoping to share processing with young students, but simultaneously looking to develop my own coding skills to a greater extent.
my understanding is that:
p5.js is the most “straightforward” - doesn’t requiring a download
python is the most “popular” - interacts with a lot of other libraries and new developments
and java, potentially, is the fastest.
i could be wrong about any or all of these - but ultimately, i’d like to hear other people’s takes on the pros and cons.
I’m more of a “use the right tool for the job” person. I’ve written Python code for years, Java not so much because I had alternatives to it, and now p5.js and javascript for some responsive/reactive web design work. I don’t worry about what is the “fastest” because most of the time it’s the code that’s written poorly and not the engine running it that lies the fault. Nor do I worry about new developments or libraries. Simply because they spring into existence so fast it’s almost impossible to keep up with them. New doesn’t always mean “better”. Stick to the “tried and true” and add new features incrementally. Makes for fewer bugs and a happier programmer.
My teacher alway tought us java before python as java is very exact.
You have to specify wich datatype you want to process with a method for example or you get an error. You have to give exact parameters exactly matching the ones you can process with a method or you get an error.
Python is a lot more inexact at this. If you want to give it an array you can do it. If you want to give it some other object you can do it. This certanly has advantages as it is easier to code. However having a understanding of java it helps avoid mistakes as you always have in mind wich data types this method should process.
When you start with Python on the other hand you will have a hard time learning the stricter rules of Java.
