Compare Java and Python by ecosystem, team needs, deployment, and the kind of system you are building.
The core idea
Java offers a strongly typed ecosystem with mature enterprise frameworks and extensive tooling. Python is concise and has a broad ecosystem for automation, data work, and rapid API development. Both can power production backends.
A practical way to approach it
Compare the actual requirements: latency and throughput targets, available libraries, team experience, hiring market, deployment environment, and long-term maintenance. Build a small vertical slice in the candidate languages before making a major commitment.
Try it in a small project
Implement the same small API in Spring Boot and FastAPI, including validation, tests, logging, and a database call. Compare developer experience and operational needs rather than comparing only line counts.
Common mistakes to avoid
No language is universally best. Architecture, observability, security, and the quality of the implementation usually matter more than a simplistic language ranking.
Key takeaway
Keep the first version small, make your assumptions explicit, and verify the result with a repeatable test. For production use, check the current official documentation for the tools and versions you choose.