Python and C# : a comparative analysis from students' perspective

Python and C# are two programming languages of great educational value. Python has a simple and clear syntax, as well as a concise and readable source code, but is relatively slow, and its industrial applications are mostly web-based. Although the syntax and code readability of C# does not match the Python's high level, they are not very bad either; besides, the .NET language offers a fast JIT compiler, and can be found within a wide gamut of industrial applications. In this paper we present a comparison of these two languages, based on the data acquired from IT students who learnt both of them during programming courses. We use the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique to show the dominance of one language over another in respective comparison criteria, and obtain an overall answer which of the two languages is better, according to the ratings given by students.