Is a switch from Java to Python worth it? I am a university student taking an Artificial Intelligence class this semester. Our professor's programming language of choice is Java, but it seems that perhaps with some nudging, he can change it to Python.

I wanted to know if there is any merit in doing so. I know a programming language is just a programming language - however, given the industry's wide use of Python when implementing AI algorithms (especially with ML), I think it makes much more sense for us to use Python. It will be easier to transition from a University environment to an Industrial one having done several assignments in Python and having a clear understanding of all the tools it provides than if we continue using Java, correct?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a switch from Java to Python?
While dyedgreen is right in some respects, I don't agree entirely with that sentiment. Sure, you can theoretically use any language as long as you know the maths and understand the concepts inside and out whilst having some applicable knowledge. 

However, I don't believe if you are starting from scratch, you should learn to develop models in Java. While the underlying material is the same, all you are doing is wasting time IMO learning a language that is rarely used in the field and lacks sufficient support by most modern ML frameworks. Also, while this is rather subjective, python feels better when used as a data science language. Working with data especially is where that difference is clear to me. 

That being said, this could all change, and Java could become the ML language of choice(extremely unlikely).