To start, it would be good to first define what a programming language is since it’s the foundation of any website, web application or App development project. A programming language is a set of commands or instructions, similar to any formal language but to communicate with computers, used to create programs made up of a group of algorithms.
Languages used by programmers to write code can be divided into “low level languages” and “high level languages”. Low level languages are directly recognized by the computer and high level languages are designed to be easy to understand by the coder or help automate many areas of computing systems. For example, high level languages allow programmers to use source code (a base of a program that contains rules, instructions, loops, everything a program needs to function), in a very natural way. It uses words like function, if, or symbols like <, >, =, which are very common words and symbols that anyone can naturally understand.
We have many different options when approaching web application development, website development or mobile app development. We can create simple websites using a commonly used CMS (like WordPress) or a more complex web application in Ruby on Rails, PHP, Node.js, etc. On the other hand, if you’re planning on carrying out a mobile development project, you might consider languages like Objective-C or Swift for iOS and Java for Android or create a hybrid application using Cordova. At the end of the day, everything depends on the objectives of your software development project and we’re here to advise you on the most cost-effect way to approach your project.
Let’s go a bit deeper on high level languages; Java, C++, Perl or PHP are categorized as high level languages. They are also called compiled languages because they have to be compiled in order to run. So what does it mean to be compiled? To be compiled is to convert the source code (high level languages) into machine code (low-level language), this process is mostly done by a compiler that translates everything written. PHP or pearl don’t need a compiler but an interpreter so they are not called compiled languages but interpreted languages.
There are several high level languages but let’s talk about what are thought to be the top 3 programming languages of 2018 which are:
- Swift
- Ruby
- PHP
SWIFT
It is a language specifically used to create native iOS and Mac OS applications, making it also one of the languages with the most potential to shape our future. The current growth of this language is due to the fact that it is based around the previous successes of C and Objective-C.
Swift is considered to be fun to use and highly user friendly. This language was created by Apple for iOS with the benefit of Xcode tracking which allows you to keep track of your errors easily. Another special benefit of this language is that it also hosts the Automatic Reference Counting, a well-known feature that manages an app’s memory usage to make sure that it is not taking too much disk space.
RUBY
Ruby is an object-oriented programming language created in 1993 that is currently 5 times in more demand than Python and seen along Java as one of the best growing programming languages. It was used to create well-known websites such as AirBnB, Pxlr, and Groupon.
It is a dynamic language that is easy to read as it looks like English. It is in fact so used to maintain code databases for high end websites that it can be relied upon by DevOps roles in order to ensure the reliability and efficiency of servers.
PHP
PHP is used by almost 80% of the world´s websites thanks to the widespread use of WordPress. Also, big websites such as Facebook and Wikipedia also use this programming language. PHP is known all over for its flexibility as it allows for the creation of all sorts of features to solve different problems.
PHP allows you to create dynamic, beautiful websites and applications; it may be used to create e-commerce websites, mobile apps, and content management systems. It is open source, making it easy for you to find useful resources.
These are the top 3 languages and their advantages to take into account when deciding on creating your own web, software or app developing project.
