programming languages

Rank

Java vs Forth

  1. This is a mainstream language

    96% 4%
    Java 27 out of 28 picked Java over Forth Forth

  2. Libraries in this language tend to be well documented.

    95% 5%
    Java 21 out of 22 picked Java over Forth Forth

  3. Code written in this language will usually run in all the major implementations if it runs in one of them.

    95% 5%
    Java 20 out of 21 picked Java over Forth Forth

  4. This language has a strong static type system

    93% 7%
    Java 59 out of 63 picked Java over Forth Forth

  5. This language is large

    92% 8%
    Java 53 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  6. There is a wide variety of open source code written in this language

    91% 9%
    Java 52 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  7. I would use this language for writing server programs

    90% 10%
    Java 56 out of 62 picked Java over Forth Forth

  8. I use many applications written in this language

    89% 11%
    Java 52 out of 58 picked Java over Forth Forth

  9. I would use this language for a web project

    89% 11%
    Java 57 out of 64 picked Java over Forth Forth

  10. It is easy to tell at a glance what code in this language does

    88% 12%
    Java 48 out of 54 picked Java over Forth Forth

  11. This language has a good library distribution mechanism.

    88% 12%
    Java 22 out of 25 picked Java over Forth Forth

  12. Third-party libraries are readily available, well-documented, and of high quality

    87% 13%
    Java 48 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  13. Code written in this language tends to be verbose

    85% 15%
    Java 53 out of 62 picked Java over Forth Forth

  14. I usually use this language on projects with many other members

    85% 15%
    Java 47 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  15. Programs written in this language will usually work in future versions of the language

    85% 15%
    Java 41 out of 48 picked Java over Forth Forth

  16. If my code in this language successfully compiles, there is a good chance my code is correct.

    84% 16%
    Java 22 out of 26 picked Java over Forth Forth

  17. I know many other people who use this language

    84% 16%
    Java 48 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  18. There are many good tools for this language

    83% 17%
    Java 46 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  19. I would use this language for a desktop GUI project

    83% 17%
    Java 46 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  20. This language is best for very large projects

    82% 18%
    Java 34 out of 41 picked Java over Forth Forth

  21. There are many good commercial tools for this language

    82% 18%
    Java 46 out of 56 picked Java over Forth Forth

  22. I can imagine using this language in my day job

    81% 19%
    Java 50 out of 61 picked Java over Forth Forth

  23. There are many good open-source tools for this language

    81% 19%
    Java 45 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  24. I know this language well

    80% 20%
    Java 396 out of 492 picked Java over Forth Forth

  25. This is a high level language

    80% 20%
    Java 49 out of 61 picked Java over Forth Forth

  26. I would list this language on my resume

    78% 22%
    Java 52 out of 66 picked Java over Forth Forth

  27. This language has well-organized libraries with consistent, carefully thought-out interfaces

    78% 22%
    Java 39 out of 50 picked Java over Forth Forth

  28. This language is good for scientific computing

    77% 23%
    Java 41 out of 53 picked Java over Forth Forth

  29. This language is frequently used for applications it isn't suitable for

    77% 23%
    Java 34 out of 44 picked Java over Forth Forth

  30. I can imagine this will be a popular language in twenty years time

    77% 23%
    Java 37 out of 48 picked Java over Forth Forth

  31. This language is good for distributed computing

    76% 24%
    Java 36 out of 47 picked Java over Forth Forth

  32. This language encourages writing reusable code.

    76% 24%
    Java 13 out of 17 picked Java over Forth Forth

  33. It is easy to debug programs written in this language when it goes wrong

    76% 24%
    Java 42 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  34. This language has a very dogmatic community

    75% 25%
    Java 33 out of 44 picked Java over Forth Forth

  35. This language is well documented

    74% 26%
    Java 37 out of 50 picked Java over Forth Forth

  36. This language has a high quality implementation

    73% 27%
    Java 17 out of 23 picked Java over Forth Forth

  37. This language has a wide variety of agreed-upon conventions, which are generally adhered to reasonably well, and which increase my productivity

    73% 27%
    Java 39 out of 53 picked Java over Forth Forth

  38. I regularly use this language

    73% 27%
    Java 47 out of 64 picked Java over Forth Forth

  39. This language is likely to have a strong influence on future languages

    73% 27%
    Java 38 out of 52 picked Java over Forth Forth

  40. This language would be good for teaching children to write software

    72% 28%
    Java 16 out of 22 picked Java over Forth Forth

  41. This language excels at concurrency

    72% 28%
    Java 39 out of 54 picked Java over Forth Forth

  42. When I run into problems my colleagues can provide me with immediate help with this language

    71% 29%
    Java 38 out of 53 picked Java over Forth Forth

  43. Programs written in this language tend to play well with others

    71% 29%
    Java 38 out of 53 picked Java over Forth Forth

  44. This language encourages writing code that is easy to maintain.

    71% 29%
    Java 15 out of 21 picked Java over Forth Forth

  45. Developers who primarily use this language often burn out after a few years

    71% 29%
    Java 30 out of 42 picked Java over Forth Forth

  46. This language has many features which feel "tacked on"

    70% 30%
    Java 43 out of 61 picked Java over Forth Forth

  47. Code written in this language tends to be very reliable

    70% 30%
    Java 42 out of 60 picked Java over Forth Forth

  48. This language is likely to be around for a very long time

    68% 32%
    Java 35 out of 51 picked Java over Forth Forth

  49. When I write code in this language I can be very sure it is correct

    68% 32%
    Java 39 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  50. I usually use this language on solo projects

    68% 32%
    Java 39 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  51. Code written in this language is very readable

    68% 32%
    Java 39 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  52. This language excels at text processing

    68% 32%
    Java 34 out of 50 picked Java over Forth Forth

  53. The thought that I may still be using this language in twenty years time fills me with dread

    67% 33%
    Java 36 out of 53 picked Java over Forth Forth

  54. The resources for learning this language are of high quality

    67% 33%
    Java 35 out of 52 picked Java over Forth Forth

  55. This language is good for numeric computing

    67% 33%
    Java 37 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  56. I would use this language to write a command-line app

    67% 33%
    Java 39 out of 58 picked Java over Forth Forth

  57. This language has a good community

    66% 34%
    Java 40 out of 60 picked Java over Forth Forth

  58. There is a lot of accidental complexity when writing code in this language

    66% 34%
    Java 41 out of 62 picked Java over Forth Forth

  59. This language has a very rigid idea of how things should be done

    66% 34%
    Java 37 out of 56 picked Java over Forth Forth

  60. I would use this language for mobile applications

    65% 35%
    Java 39 out of 60 picked Java over Forth Forth

  61. This language has an annoying syntax

    63% 37%
    Java 14 out of 22 picked Java over Forth Forth

  62. I still discover new features of this language on a fairly regular basis

    61% 39%
    Java 29 out of 47 picked Java over Forth Forth

  63. I often write things in this language with the intent of rewriting them in something else later

    61% 39%
    Java 27 out of 44 picked Java over Forth Forth

  64. This language is good for beginners

    60% 40%
    Java 35 out of 58 picked Java over Forth Forth

  65. I would use this language for casual scripting

    60% 40%
    Java 33 out of 55 picked Java over Forth Forth

  66. I use a lot of code written in this language which I really don't want to have to make changes to

    60% 40%
    Java 6 out of 10 picked Java over Forth Forth

  67. I find this language easy to prototype in

    59% 41%
    Java 31 out of 52 picked Java over Forth Forth

  68. I find it easy to write efficient code in this language

    57% 43%
    Java 33 out of 57 picked Java over Forth Forth

  69. This language is likely to be a passing fad

    57% 43%
    Java 30 out of 52 picked Java over Forth Forth

  70. I often get angry when writing code in this language

    57% 43%
    Java 8 out of 14 picked Java over Forth Forth

  71. I am sometimes embarrassed to admit to my peers that I know this language

    56% 44%
    Java 27 out of 48 picked Java over Forth Forth

  72. I am reluctant to admit to knowing this language

    55% 45%
    Java 26 out of 47 picked Java over Forth Forth

  73. This language is expressive

    51% 49%
    Java 33 out of 64 picked Java over Forth Forth

  74. This language is unusually bad for beginners

    50% 50%
    Java 33 out of 65 picked Java over Forth Forth

  75. This language is easier to use for it's problem domain by removing unneeded expressiveness (such as not being Turing complete).

    46% 54%
    Java 8 out of 15 picked Forth over Java Forth

  76. It's unusual for me to discover unfamiliar features

    46% 54%
    Java 29 out of 54 picked Forth over Java Forth

  77. I rarely have difficulty abstracting patterns I find in my code

    46% 54%
    Java 28 out of 52 picked Forth over Java Forth

  78. This language is well suited for an agile development approach using short iterations.

    44% 56%
    Java 11 out of 20 picked Forth over Java Forth

  79. This language excels at symbolic manipulation

    43% 57%
    Java 35 out of 62 picked Forth over Java Forth

  80. Writing code in this language is a lot of work

    43% 57%
    Java 38 out of 67 picked Forth over Java Forth

  81. Learning this language significantly changed how I use other languages.

    42% 58%
    Java 16 out of 28 picked Forth over Java Forth

  82. I would recommend most programmers learn this language, regardless of whether they have a specific need for it

    41% 59%
    Java 14 out of 24 picked Forth over Java Forth

  83. I enjoy using this language

    39% 61%
    Java 41 out of 68 picked Forth over Java Forth

  84. This language is very flexible

    39% 61%
    Java 38 out of 63 picked Forth over Java Forth

  85. I learned this language early in my career as a programmer

    39% 61%
    Java 14 out of 23 picked Forth over Java Forth

  86. I use this language out of choice

    37% 63%
    Java 34 out of 54 picked Forth over Java Forth

  87. Learning this language improved my ability as a programmer

    34% 66%
    Java 40 out of 61 picked Forth over Java Forth

  88. I find code written in this language very elegant

    33% 67%
    Java 39 out of 59 picked Forth over Java Forth

  89. This language has a niche outside of which I would not use it

    33% 67%
    Java 39 out of 59 picked Forth over Java Forth

  90. I would like to write more of this language than I currently do

    32% 68%
    Java 41 out of 61 picked Forth over Java Forth

  91. If this language didn't exist, I would have trouble finding a satisfactory replacement

    31% 69%
    Java 32 out of 47 picked Forth over Java Forth

  92. This language has a very coherent design

    31% 69%
    Java 39 out of 57 picked Forth over Java Forth

  93. Programs written in this language tend to be efficient

    31% 69%
    Java 40 out of 58 picked Forth over Java Forth

  94. This language has unusual features that I often miss when using other languages

    29% 71%
    Java 41 out of 58 picked Forth over Java Forth

  95. It is too easy to write code in this language that looks like it does one thing but actually does something else

    28% 72%
    Java 40 out of 56 picked Forth over Java Forth

  96. This language is best for very small projects

    27% 73%
    Java 39 out of 54 picked Forth over Java Forth

  97. This language matches it's problem domain particularly well.

    27% 73%
    Java 16 out of 22 picked Forth over Java Forth

  98. I would use this language for writing embedded programs

    25% 75%
    Java 9 out of 12 picked Forth over Java Forth

  99. I would use this language as a scripting language embedded inside a larger application

    23% 77%
    Java 42 out of 55 picked Forth over Java Forth

  100. I would use this language for writing programs for an embedded hardware platform

    22% 78%
    Java 44 out of 57 picked Forth over Java Forth

  101. This language is suitable for real-time applications

    21% 79%
    Java 41 out of 52 picked Forth over Java Forth

  102. Code written in this language tends to be terse

    20% 80%
    Java 47 out of 59 picked Forth over Java Forth

  103. This language makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot

    19% 81%
    Java 40 out of 50 picked Forth over Java Forth

  104. This language has a niche in which it is great

    19% 81%
    Java 44 out of 55 picked Forth over Java Forth

  105. I enjoy playing with this language but would never use it for "real code"

    19% 81%
    Java 41 out of 51 picked Forth over Java Forth

  106. This language is built on a small core of orthogonal features

    16% 84%
    Java 42 out of 50 picked Forth over Java Forth

  107. This language allows me to write programs where I know exactly what they are doing under the hood

    14% 86%
    Java 48 out of 56 picked Forth over Java Forth

  108. This is a low level language

    12% 88%
    Java 49 out of 56 picked Forth over Java Forth

  109. I often feel like I am not smart enough to write this language

    11% 89%
    Java 15 out of 17 picked Forth over Java Forth

  110. The semantics of this language are much different than other languages I know.

    9% 91%
    Java 20 out of 22 picked Forth over Java Forth

  111. This language is minimal

    8% 92%
    Java 51 out of 56 picked Forth over Java Forth

What's going on here?

The absolute rankings are interesting for large scale comparisons but when you want to know about two specific languages it's much more informative to look at how the two fare when they go directly head to head.

Here are all the statements which we've got enough comparisons between Java and Forth to be meaningful and which of the two our users picked.

The order in which we're presenting them is a little arbitrary (sorry), but we've tried to put the things which they're both good at first so as to give you the most interesting picture of it.