Minecraft Bedrock is a popular option thanks to it supporting cross-play via many different consoles and devices, so you can ...

This means that Java players can only play with other Java players, and the same goes for Bedrock. In order to play with friends on Java Edition, you'll need to be part of a server.

Minecraft Java Edition players can only cross-play with people on the same version, which is relegated to PC, Mac, and Linux.

The two editions of Minecraft do have important differences. These are all the things you should consider when deciding between Minecraft Bedrock and Java.

Java is, by and large, the more powerful and feature-rich version of Minecraft, but it lacks the compatibility and cross-play support of its Bedrock cousin.