What is it that you want to do with your programming knowledge? Answering that questions will likely steer your answer to which language(s) you want to learn…”īoth Java and JavaScript are widely used in tech. If you’re thinking you might like to make Android apps, then Java would be better. In general, if you want to develop for the web then choose JavaScript. “It depends entirely on what you want to do. Interested in learning a new programming language and not sure whether to start with Java or JavaScript? In a conversation about this very topic in the Codecademy Forums, Codecademy learner LeChuck shares: In return, Netscape changed Mocha’s name to JavaScript. Netscape offered Sun the opportunity to run Java apps in web browsers, which allowed them to benefit from the language’s popularity. Later, in response to the rising popularity of Internet Explorer (a major Netscape competitor), Netscape and Sun Microsystems struck a deal. But whereas CSS adds style, JavaScript adds interactivity. Like CSS, it was meant to be embedded into a website’s HTML. Later renamed JavaScript, Mocha was designed with simplicity in mind.

In 1995, Netscape created a programming language called Mocha.

Instead, Java found its niche in server-side programming - the invisible background workings of applications. At first, they intended to implement Java into televisions to enable interactivity, but these plans fell through. Sun Microsystems first released Java in 1996.

Java script games