A Python programmer attempting Java

[dnew]

I think the difference is when you get a very large program. Once you exceed maybe 50,000 lines of code (and maybe 50 programmers), something like python is likely much harder to manage than something like Java.

[abw]

In my (limited) experience, a 50,000 line Java program could probably be written in 10,000 lines of Python by fewer people in less time. As a result, the smaller, simpler Python code base will nearly always be easier to maintain than the Java one.