Best Programming Languages
View:
Compare the Top Programming Languages as of September 2025
Sort By:
What are Programming Languages?
Programming languages are a set of rules that form a language that programmers and developers can use to write software, applications, web apps, mobile apps, scripts, and more. Compare and read user reviews of the best Programming Languages currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.
-
1
MATLAB
The MathWorks
MATLAB® combines a desktop environment tuned for iterative analysis and design processes with a programming language that expresses matrix and array mathematics directly. It includes the Live Editor for creating scripts that combine code, output, and formatted text in an executable notebook. MATLAB toolboxes are professionally developed, rigorously tested, and fully documented. MATLAB apps let you see how different algorithms work with your data. Iterate until you’ve got the results you want, then automatically generate a MATLAB program to reproduce or automate your work. Scale your analyses to run on clusters, GPUs, and clouds with only minor code changes. There’s no need to rewrite your code or learn big data programming and out-of-memory techniques. Automatically convert MATLAB algorithms to C/C++, HDL, and CUDA code to run on your embedded processor or FPGA/ASIC. MATLAB works with Simulink to support Model-Based Design. -
2
Python
Python
The core of extensible programming is defining functions. Python allows mandatory and optional arguments, keyword arguments, and even arbitrary argument lists. Whether you're new to programming or an experienced developer, it's easy to learn and use Python. Python can be easy to pick up whether you're a first-time programmer or you're experienced with other languages. The following pages are a useful first step to get on your way to writing programs with Python! The community hosts conferences and meetups to collaborate on code, and much more. Python's documentation will help you along the way, and the mailing lists will keep you in touch. The Python Package Index (PyPI) hosts thousands of third-party modules for Python. Both Python's standard library and the community-contributed modules allow for endless possibilities.Starting Price: Free -
3
Java
Oracle
The Java™ Programming Language is a general-purpose, concurrent, strongly typed, class-based object-oriented language. It is normally compiled to the bytecode instruction set and binary format defined in the Java Virtual Machine Specification. In the Java programming language, all source code is first written in plain text files ending with the .java extension. Those source files are then compiled into .class files by the javac compiler. A .class file does not contain code that is native to your processor; it instead contains bytecodes — the machine language of the Java Virtual Machine1 (Java VM). The java launcher tool then runs your application with an instance of the Java Virtual Machine.Starting Price: Free -
4
PowerShell
Microsoft
PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation and configuration management framework, consisting of a command-line shell and scripting language. Unlike most shells, which accept and return text, PowerShell is built on top of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR), and accepts and returns .NET objects. This fundamental change brings entirely new tools and methods for automation. Unlike traditional command-line interfaces, PowerShell cmdlets are designed to deal with objects. An object is structured information that is more than just the string of characters appearing on the screen. Command output always carries extra information that you can use if you need it. If you've used text-processing tools to process data in the past, you'll find that they behave differently when used in PowerShell. In most cases, you don't need text-processing tools to extract specific information. You directly access portions of the data using standard PowerShell object syntax.Starting Price: Free -
5
Delphi
Embarcadero
Delphi is the ultimate IDE for creating cross-platform, natively compiled apps. Are you ready to design the best UIs of your life? Our award winning VCL framework for Windows and FireMonkey (FMX) visual framework for cross-platform UIs provide you with the foundation for intuitive, beautiful user interfaces that wow on every platform: Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Design your master UI layout once, then easily customize platform- and device-specific views without duplication of design effort. Drag-and-drop visual and non-visual components from the palette using our visual designer. Visually connect user interface elements to data sources using the LiveBindings Designer. Real-time design validation using Live On-Device Preview to broadcast the active form to multiple devices simultaneously. Add responsive design with resolution-aware components for desktop, tablets, and smartphones. Real, platform-specific native controls for an improved user experience. -
6
Pascal
Pascal
Pascal is a procedural and imperative programming language. Pascal is a simple and efficient programming language designed for developers that want to build applications in structured ways. Free Pascal is a mature, versatile, open source Pascal compiler. It can target many processor architectures: Intel x86 (16 and 32 bit), AMD64/x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC64, SPARC, SPARC64, ARM, AArch64, MIPS, Motorola 68k, AVR, and the JVM. Supported operating systems include Windows (16/32/64 bit, CE, and native NT), Linux, Mac OS X/iOS/iPhoneSimulator/Darwin, FreeBSD and other BSD flavors, DOS (16 bit, or 32 bit DPMI), OS/2, AIX, Android, Haiku, Nintendo GBA/DS/Wii, AmigaOS, MorphOS, AROS, Atari TOS, and various embedded platforms. Additionally, support for RISC-V (32/64), Xtensa, and Z80 architectures, and for the LLVM compiler infrastructure is available in the development version. Additionally, the Free Pascal team maintains a transpiler for pascal to Javascript called pas2js. -
7
AutoIt
AutoIt
AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement, and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages. We looked at many editors to see which one was the most useful editor for AutoIt. We found SciTE and saw its potential and wrote a customized Lexer for the syntax highlighting and syntax folding and created a special installer called SciTE4AutoIt3. AutoIt was initially designed for PC "roll out" situations to reliably automate and configure thousands of PCs. Over time it has become a powerful language that supports complex expressions, user functions, loops and everything else that veteran scripters would expect.AutoIt is also very small, self-contained and will run on all versions of Windows out-of-the-box with no annoying "runtimes" required.Starting Price: Free -
8
LabVIEW
NI
LabVIEW offers a graphical programming approach that helps you visualize every aspect of your application, including hardware configuration, measurement data, and debugging. This visualization makes it simple to integrate measurement hardware from any vendor, represent complex logic on the diagram, develop data analysis algorithms, and design custom engineering user interfaces. With LabVIEW and NI DAQ hardware, you can build a custom measurement solution to visualize and analyze real-world signals to make data-driven decisions. Using LabVIEW and NI or third-party hardware, you can automate the validation of your product to meet challenging time-to-market and performance requirements. Working with LabVIEW, you can create flexible test applications that control multiple instruments and design user interfaces to optimize your manufacturing test throughput and operational cost. You can build industrial equipment and smart machines faster with LabVIEW.Starting Price: $453 per year -
9
Nix
NixOS
Nix is a tool that takes a unique approach to package management and system configuration. Learn how to make reproducible, declarative, and reliable systems. Nix builds packages in isolation from each other. This ensures that they are reproducible and don't have undeclared dependencies, so if a package works on one machine, it will also work on another. Nix makes it trivial to share development and build environments for your projects, regardless of what programming languages and tools you’re using. Nix ensures that installing or upgrading one package cannot break other packages. It allows you to roll back to previous versions and ensures that no package is in an inconsistent state during an upgrade. Nix is a purely functional package manager. This means that it treats packages like values in purely functional programming languages such as Haskell, they are built by functions that don’t have side effects, and they never change after they have been built.Starting Price: Free -
10
CSS
CSS
CSS, short for Cascading Style Sheets, is a style sheet language used by web developers to structure the HTML and other elements of a website. CSS is one of the most widely used languages on the web. For style sheets to work, it is important that your markup be free of errors. A convenient way to automatically fix markup errors is to use the HTML Tidy utility. This also tidies the markup making it easier to read and easier to edit. I recommend you regularly run Tidy over any markup you are editing. Tidy is very effective at cleaning up markup created by authoring tools with sloppy habits. Each style property starts with the property's name, then a colon and lastly the value for this property. When there is more than one style property in the list, you need to use a semicolon between each of them to delimit one property from the next.Starting Price: Free -
11
Component Pascal
Component Pascal
Component Pascal is a general-purpose language in the tradition of Pascal, Modula-2, and Oberon. Its most important features are block structure, modularity, separate compilation, static typing with strong type checking (also across module boundaries), type extension with methods, dynamic loading of modules, and garbage collection. Type extension makes Component Pascal an object-oriented language. An object is a variable of an abstract data type consisting of private data (its state) and procedures that operate on this data. Abstract data types are declared as extensible records. Component Pascal covers most terms of object-oriented languages by the established vocabulary of imperative languages in order to minimize the number of notions for similar concepts. Complete type safety and the requirement of a dynamic object model make Component Pascal a component-oriented language.Starting Price: Free -
12
Kotlin
Kotlin
Easy to pick up, so you can create powerful applications immediately. Compatible with the Java ecosystem. Use your favorite JVM frameworks and libraries. Share application logic between web, mobile, and desktop platforms while keeping an experience native to users. Save time and get the benefit of unlimited access to features specific to these platforms. Kotlin has great support and many contributors in its fast-growing global community. Enjoy the benefits of a rich ecosystem with a wide range of community libraries. Help is never far away — consult extensive community resources or ask the Kotlin team directly. Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile is an SDK for iOS and Android app development. It offers all the combined benefits of creating cross-platform and native apps. Maintain a single codebase for networking, data storage, analytics, and the other logic of your Android and iOS apps.Starting Price: Free -
13
PHP
PHP
Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world. The PHP development team announces the immediate availability of PHP 8.0.20. When using the PHP.net website, there is even no need to get to a search box to access the content you would like to see quickly. You can use short PHP.net URLs to access pages directly.Starting Price: Free -
14
Visual Basic
Microsoft
Visual Basic is an object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft. Using Visual Basic makes it fast and easy to create type-safe .NET apps. Visual Basic focuses on supplying more of the features of the Visual Basic Runtime (microsoft.visualbasic.dll) to .NET Core and is the first version of Visual Basic focused on .NET Core. Many portions of the Visual Basic Runtime depend on WinForms and these will be added in a later version of Visual Basic. .NET is a free, open-source development platform for building many kinds of apps. With .NET, your code and project files look and feel the same no matter which type of app you're building. You have access to the same runtime, API, and language capabilities with each app. A Visual Basic program is built up from standard building blocks. A solution comprises one or more projects. A project in turn can contain one or more assemblies. Each assembly is compiled from one or more source files.Starting Price: Free -
15
Swift
Apple
Writing Swift code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and Swift includes modern features developers love. Swift code is safe by design and produces software that runs lightning-fast. Swift is the result of the latest research on programming languages, combined with decades of experience building Apple platforms. Named parameters are expressed in a clean syntax that makes APIs in Swift even easier to read and maintain. Even better, you don’t even need to type semi-colons. Inferred types make code cleaner and less prone to mistakes, while modules eliminate headers and provide namespaces. To best support international languages and emoji, Strings are Unicode-correct and use a UTF-8 based encoding to optimize performance for a wide-variety of use cases. You can even write concurrent code with simple, built-in keywords that define asynchronous behavior, making your code more readable and less error-prone.Starting Price: Free -
16
Eiffel
Eiffel Software
Eiffel is the most comprehensive approach to the construction of successful object-oriented software. You spend less on development, debugging, and maintenance. You get the bugs before they get you. You release quality products ahead of your competitors. Easier in every way, understanding, maintenance, reuse, and extension. Eiffel is the only approach that covers analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance in a single framework. Systems developed using Eiffel can be made portable across major industry platforms. Based on a small number of powerful ideas from computer science and software engineering. Products of all phases are recorded in a single document with multiple views. Exists to express the products of the Eiffel Method. Supports features not always available in competing technologies. Exception handling based on software specification (versus ad hoc try/catch). Widely recognized as simultaneously the simplest and most complete implementation of object-oriented concepts.Starting Price: Free -
17
IronPython
IronPython
IronPython is an open-source implementation of the Python programming language which is tightly integrated with .NET. IronPython can use .NET and Python libraries, and other .NET languages can use Python code just as easily. Experience a more interactive .NET and Python development experience with Python Tools for Visual Studio. IronPython is an excellent addition to .NET, providing Python developers with the power of the .NET. Existing .NET developers can also use IronPython as a fast and expressive scripting language for embedding, testing, or writing a new application from scratch. The CLR is a great platform for creating programming languages, and the DLR makes it all the better for dynamic languages. Also, the .NET (base class library, presentation foundation, etc.) gives developers an amazing amount of functionality and power. IronPython uses Python syntax and standard libraries and so your Python code will need to be updated accordingly.Starting Price: Free -
18
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme is a general-purpose computer programming language. It is a high-level language, supporting operations on structured data such as strings, lists, and vectors, as well as operations on more traditional data such as numbers and characters. While Scheme is often identified with symbolic applications, its rich set of data types and flexible control structures make it a truly versatile language. Scheme has been employed to write text editors, optimize compilers, operating systems, graphics packages, expert systems, numerical applications, financial analysis packages, virtual reality systems, and practically every other type of application imaginable. Scheme is a fairly simple language to learn since it is based on a handful of syntactic forms and semantic concepts and since the interactive nature of most implementations encourages experimentation. Scheme is a challenging language to understand fully.Starting Price: Free -
19
Ruby
Ruby Language
Wondering why Ruby is so popular? Its fans call it a beautiful, artful language. And yet, they say it’s handy and practical. Since its public release in 1995, Ruby has drawn devoted coders worldwide. In 2006, Ruby achieved mass acceptance. With active user groups formed in the world’s major cities and Ruby-related conferences filled to capacity. Ruby-Talk, the primary mailing list for discussion of the Ruby language, climbed to an average of 200 messages per day in 2006. It has dropped in recent years as the size of the community pushed discussion from one central list into many smaller groups. Ruby is ranked among the top 10 on most of the indices that measure the growth and popularity of programming languages worldwide (such as the TIOBE index). Much of the growth is attributed to the popularity of software written in Ruby, particularly the Ruby on Rails web framework.Starting Price: Free -
20
Oxygene
RemObjects Software
Pascal is more relevant today than ever, and modern Pascal implementations such as Oxygene have a lot to bring to the table. Oxygene is a powerful general-purpose programming language, designed to let developers create all imaginable kinds of projects on a wide variety of platforms. To achieve this, it provides a combination of language features that ease the development processes, from basic object-oriented language concepts found in most modern languages (such as the concept of classes with methods, properties, and events) to sophisticated specialized language features that enable and ease specific development tasks (such as creating safe, multi-threaded applications), many of those unique to Oxygene. All of the provided features are based on the foundation of Object Pascal and stay true to the language design paradigms that make Pascal great, readable, and discoverable. As an object-oriented language, most code written in Oxygene lives in "classes".Starting Price: $199 one-time payment -
21
PascalABC.NET
PascalABC.NET
The new generation Pascal programming language combines the simplicity of classic Pascal, a great number of modern extensions, and the broad capabilities of Microsoft .NET Framework. Free, simple, and powerful IDE. Built-in form designer for rapid development of Windows desktop applications. Download the latest version of PascalABC.NET with a build-in form designer. Several extensions of the Pascal language, including the foreach operator, in-block variable definitions, auto type deduction in variable definitions, simplified syntax of units, method implementations inside classes and records, a new operator for object construction, anonymous classes, auto-classes, BigIntegers, etc. The most modern features of programming languages like n-dimensional dynamic arrays, generics, interfaces, operator overloading, exceptions, garbage collection, and lambda expressions. IDE with integrated debugger, IntelliSense system, code templates, and code auto-formatting.Starting Price: Free -
22
TypeScript
TypeScript
TypeScript adds additional syntax to JavaScript to support a tighter integration with your editor. Catch errors early in your editor. TypeScript code converts to JavaScript, which runs anywhere JavaScript runs: In a browser, on Node.js or Deno and in your apps. TypeScript understands JavaScript and uses type inference to give you great tooling without additional code. TypeScript was used by 78% of the 2020 State of JS respondents, with 93% saying they would use it again. The most common kinds of errors that programmers write can be described as type errors: a certain kind of value was used where a different kind of value was expected. This could be due to simple typos, a failure to understand the API surface of a library, incorrect assumptions about runtime behavior, or other errors.Starting Price: Free -
23
Scala
Scala
Scala combines object-oriented and functional programming in one concise, high-level language. Scala's static types help avoid bugs in complex applications, and its JVM and JavaScript runtimes let you build high-performance systems with easy access to huge ecosystems of libraries. The Scala compiler is smart about static types. Most of the time, you need not tell it the types of your variables. Instead, its powerful type inference will figure them out for you. In Scala, case classes are used to represent structural data types. They implicitly equip the class with meaningful toString, equals and hashCode methods, as well as the ability to be deconstructed with pattern matching. In Scala, functions are values, and can be defined as anonymous functions with a concise syntax.Starting Price: Free -
24
RemObjects Mercury
RemObjects Mercury
Mercury is an implementation of the BASIC programming language that is fully code-compatible with Microsoft Visual Basic.NET™, but takes it to the next level, and to new horizons. With Mercury, you will be able to build your existing VB.NET projects and leverage your Visual Basic™ language experience to write code for any modern target platform. You can mix Mercury code with any of the other five Elements languages in the same project if you like! The Mercury language will be deeply integrated into our development environments. Develop your projects in our smart yet lightweight IDEs, Water on Windows or Fire on Mac, with project templates, code completion, integrated debugging for all platforms, and many other advanced development features. Of course, Mercury will also integrate into Visual Studio™ 2017, 2019 and 2022. With Elements, all languages are created equal. Even within the same project, you can mix Mercury, C#, Swift, Java, Oxygene and Go.Starting Price: $49 per month -
25
Small Basic
Small Basic
Small Basic is the only programming language created especially to help students transition from block-based coding to text-based coding. By teaching the fundamental elements of syntax-based languages in an approachable manner, Small Basic gives students the skills and confidence to tackle more complex programming languages such as Java and C#. You can also build applications for Kinect, Lego Mindstorm, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Oculus Rift, and more using Small Basic. Small Basic combines a friendly environment with a very simple language and a rich and engaging set of libraries to make your programs and games pop! In a matter of a few lines of code, you will be well on your way to creating your very own game! Share your programs with your friends and let them import your published programs and run them on their computers. Using the Silverlight player, you can even post your games on your own blogs and websites and play them in the browser.Starting Price: Free -
26
Perl
Perl
Perl is a highly capable, feature-rich programming language with over 30 years of development. Perl is a highly capable, feature-rich programming language with over 30 years of development. Perl runs on over 100 platforms from portables to mainframes and is suitable for both rapid prototyping and large scale development projects. "Perl" is a family of languages, "Raku" (formerly known as "Perl 6") is part of the family, but it is a separate language which has its own development team. Its existence has no significant impact on the continuing development of "Perl". Perl includes powerful tools for processing text that make it ideal for working with HTML, XML, and all other mark-up and natural languages. Perl can handle encrypted Web data, including e-commerce transactions.Starting Price: Free -
27
Fortran
Fortran
Fortran has been designed from the ground up for computationally intensive applications in science and engineering. Mature and battle-tested compilers and libraries allow you to write code that runs close to the metal, fast. Fortran is statically and strongly typed, which allows the compiler to catch many programming errors early on for you. This also allows the compiler to generate efficient binary code. Fortran is a relatively small language that is surprisingly easy to learn and use. Expressing most mathematical and arithmetic operations over large arrays is as simple as writing them as equations on a whiteboard. Fortran is a natively parallel programming language with intuitive array-like syntax to communicate data between CPUs. You can run almost the same code on a single CPU, on a shared-memory multicore system, or on a distributed-memory HPC or cloud-based system.Starting Price: Free -
28
Synergy DBL
Synergex
Synergy DBL is a proven, ANSI-standard business language with class libraries, a high-performance database, and .NET interoperability at the heart of the Synergy/DE product suite. Flexible and reliable, it gives you the power to create scalable, portable enterprise applications and supports both object-oriented and structured programming techniques. Synergy DBL comes in two forms: traditional Synergy DBL and Synergy DBL for .NET. Traditional Synergy DBL supports numerous open technologies (including XML, HTTPS, SSL, and ActiveX) that allow you to interface with third-party applications and data. The multi-pass Synergy DBL compiler supports strong prototyping and other strict error-detection features. Synergy DBL for .NET enables you to create Synergy libraries and applications that run natively in the .NET framework, then extend your applications by taking advantage of .NET Framework libraries and third-party controls and interoperating with applications written in other languages.Starting Price: Free -
29
XSharp (X#)
XSharp
X# is an open-source development language for .NET, based on the xBase language. It comes in different flavors, such as Core, Visual Objects, Vulcan.NET, xBase++, Harbour, Foxpro, and more. X# has been built on top of Roslyn, the open-source architecture behind the current Microsoft C# and Microsoft Visual Basic compilers. We have added a new options page (tools/options/text editor/X#) where you can control which suggestions the editor will suggest in the "general" code completion list. Code completion after a colon or dot will show namespaces, types, members, etc. And code completion after AS or IS will show types and namespaces. Several preprocessor fixes to make the preprocessor more compatible with FoxPro and Xbase++. We have also added the #if and #stdout commands. We added several smaller fixes in the RDD system to improve the compatibility with Visual Objects, XBase++ and FoxPro.Starting Price: Free -
30
Elm
Elm
Elm uses type inference to detect corner cases and give friendly hints. NoRedInk switched to Elm about four years ago, and 300k+ lines later, they still have not had to scramble to fix a confusing runtime exception in production. The compiler guides you safely through your changes, ensuring confidence even through the most widereaching refactorings in unfamiliar codebases. Including your own, six months later. All Elm programs are written in the same pattern, eliminating doubt and lengthy discussions when deciding how to build new projects and making it easy to navigate old or foreign codebases. Elm has its own virtual DOM implementation, designed for simplicity and speed. All values are immutable in Elm, and the benchmarks show that this helps us generate particularly fast JavaScript code.Starting Price: Free
Guide to Programming Languages
Programming languages are a set of instructions that a computer can follow to complete specific tasks. They are a type of formal language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, such as a computer. Programming languages allow users to create programs and bring them to life by telling the computer how to perform certain tasks. Programming languages range from basic commands used for simple operations, like BASIC and C, all the way up to complex programming languages such as JavaScript and Python.
When it comes to creating programs, each language has its own syntax - or structure - that must be followed in order for the program to run correctly. While some programming languages use text-based syntax, others may use graphics or visual elements (like Scratch) as part of their programming language design. Different types of programming languages have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes down to which one should be used for which task.
For example, HTML is predominantly used for web page design while Java is good for mobile app development and game development. Similarly, Python is great for coding more general applications due its extensive library support while C# is often used in the professional world due to its built-in features like garbage collection and dynamic typing - which makes it easier for programmers with less experience develop functional code quickly.
In addition to knowing the syntax of a particular language, understanding variables, functions and data structures are also important components in writing efficient code in any given language - no matter how simple or complex it might be. Variables are pieces of data that can be assigned values that can change throughout a program’s execution; functions provide names for pieces of code so they can be reused again later; and data structures provide methods of organizing data into meaningful formats such as lists or dictionaries (key-value pairs).
Unsurprisingly, there are myriad frameworks available specifically designed around particular programming languages which assist developers in streamlining much of the common tasks they perform on an everyday basis while allowing them keep focused on more important aspects related directly towards building an actual application or web page instead of spending lots time dealing with mundane boilerplate code necessary just get things off ground running (such Rails or Node).
Aside from aiding with quickening up development process itself however understanding several other concepts such Object Oriented Programming (which allows developers create classes hierarchies their applications) along Design Patterns (where reusable solutions exist commonly occurring problems related software architecture) becoming increasingly essential learning toolbox modern programmer devoted bringing their projects fruition within reasonable amount time effort required invest completing same tasks through another means entirely.
Features Provided by Programming Languages
- Abstraction: Programming languages provide abstraction, which is the ability to hide specific details of an implementation from the user. This allows programmers to reuse code by implementing complex processes as calls to library functions or classes without needing to understand their inner workings.
- Data Types: Programming languages provide various data types that allow developers to store different kinds of information in their programs. These data types may include primitive types such as integers and floating point numbers, collections such as lists and dictionaries, and custom data structures like objects and structs.
- Control Structures: Programming languages provide various control structures that allow developers to create more sophisticated programs. These control structures usually involve conditional statements (if-else) or looping mechanisms (while, for) that can be used to perform a certain task multiple times or take different actions depending on certain conditions.
- Syntax: Programming languages also have a specific syntax that must be followed in order for a program to compile properly and run correctly. The syntax can vary between programming languages but typically includes elements such as identifiers (variables), keywords (data types), operators (arithmetic/logical), punctuation marks (braces), and comments (descriptive text).
- Libraries: Most programming languages come with libraries of pre-written code that can be leveraged by developers when writing their own programs. These libraries provide access to commonly used functions such as networking, image processing, string manipulation, etc., so developers don't need to reinvent the wheel each time they write software.
- Compilers/Interpreters: In order to actually execute the code written in a programming language, it must be compiled or interpreted by a compiler or interpreter. Compilers convert source code into machine-readable code (usually binary) that is then executed on a computer, while interpreters directly execute the source code line-by-line as it is being read.
Trends Related to Programming Languages
- The rise of low-code no-code platforms: Low-code and no-code platforms are becoming increasingly popular as they allow developers to quickly create powerful solutions with minimal effort. These solutions make it easier for non-developers to develop applications, reducing the cost and time needed to create them. As a result, more businesses are turning to these platforms as they allow faster application development.
- The emergence of artificial intelligence: AI is becoming increasingly important in the programming world, as developers use it to automate processes and turn data into valuable insights. This has led to an increase in demand for AI skills among developers, which is driving the growth of AI frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch.
- The increased popularity of JavaScript: JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages today and is used in web development, mobile apps, desktop applications, game development, etc. This wide range of applications has led to an increase in its popularity among developers, who have been using it for frontend development as well as backend development tasks like serverless functions. There are a wide variety of JavaScript libraries available to accelerate development.
- Growing demand for Python: Python has become one of the most widely used programming languages due to its simplicity and readability compared to other languages such as Java or C++. Its versatile nature makes it suitable for creating complex applications while being easy enough for beginners to pick up quickly and start coding right away. As a result, Python's popularity has grown rapidly in recent years and employers across various industries are now seeking out developers who can work with this language effectively.
- Explosion of blockchain technology usage: Blockchain technology has been around for a while but its use cases have exploded over the past few years due to its potentials beyond cryptocurrency transactions – such as smart contracts or decentralized exchanges. This surge in adoption means that more developers are required who can create blockchain solutions, leading a lot opportunity within this field for those familiar with relevant technologies such as Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric.
Types of Programming Languages
- Procedural Programming Languages: These languages require the programmer to specify a set of instructions that the computer needs to follow in order to carry out a task or output a result. Examples include C, BASIC, and FORTRAN.
- Object-Oriented Programming Languages: These languages are based on the concept of objects and classes, which allow the programmer to create reusable code units. Examples include Java, C++, and Python.
- Functional Programming Languages: These languages employ a functional programming paradigm and emphasize the evaluation of expressions rather than statements. Examples include Lisp, Haskell, and Erlang.
- Logic Programming Languages: This type of language is based on first-order predicate logic and allows for automated deduction from given facts or conditions. Examples include Prolog and Mercury.
- Scripting Languages: A scripting language is used to automate tasks on the web or in applications that usually don't have access to compilers or interpreters. Examples include JavaScript, Perl, PHP, and Ruby.
- Assembly Languages: This language is a low-level programming language that provides the programmer with direct control over hardware and memory. Examples include x86 ASM, MIPS ASM, and ARM ASM.
- Domain-Specific Languages: These languages are specifically designed to solve problems in a specific domain. Examples include MATLAB for linear algebra, HTML for web page creation, and SQL for database management.
Advantages Provided By Programming Languages
- Increased Productivity: Programming languages give developers the ability to create and deploy software in a fraction of the time that it would take if done manually. Programming languages enable developers to write code quickly, debug errors quickly, and refactor their code for maximum efficiency.
- Flexible Applications: The flexibility of programming languages allows developers to easily create applications that are tailored to an organization's specific needs. This means organizations can develop applications that meet their exact requirements, rather than having to conform to rigid predefined templates or frameworks.
- Cost Efficiency: By utilizing programming languages, organizations can save money by reducing development costs and eliminating costly maintenance fees associated with manual development. The cost-saving potential of automated programming makes it an attractive solution for businesses looking to cut expenses without sacrificing quality.
- Standardization: Programming languages provide a standard way for programmers from different backgrounds and skill levels to communicate with each other. They also allow teams of developers from different parts of the world to collaborate on projects more efficiently due to common syntax rules and coding conventions.
- Faster Development Time: Programming languages reduce the amount of time required for development because they provide a structured way of writing code and organizing files that speeds up development times significantly compared with manual coding processes. Additionally, many modern programming languages have built-in libraries, frameworks, and tools which further speed up development time even more so than traditional methods.
- Improved User Experience: Programming languages make it easier for developers to create user-friendly websites and applications with interactive features, faster load times, and a more appealing design. This can be beneficial to users who demand a better overall experience when using a website or application.
- Security: Programming languages also provide enhanced security measures that prevent malicious users from accessing sensitive information on the back end of an application. By writing code in specific ways, developers can ensure their software is secure from potential cyber-attacks and other digital threats.
How to Choose the Right Programming Language
- Assess Your Needs: Before you can choose the right programming language for your organization, you need to assess your current needs and future goals. Consider what type of project or product is being built, what kind of environment it will be used in, and which technical aspects are most important.
- Research Available Programming Languages: There are numerous programming languages available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Take time to research different options to determine which best fits your organization's needs. Use the tools on this page to compare programming languages by features and user reviews.
- Test the Language: Once you have narrowed down your choices, it is a good idea to test the language out on a small scale project or sample application to ensure it meets the criteria set by your company.
- Get Feedback from Developers: Ask developers who have experience with different languages for feedback on which one they believe would work best for your project or product. This can help you make an informed decision about which language will be most successful in helping you meet your organization’s goals.
- Compare Costs: Although cost should not be the only factor when choosing a programming language, it is an important consideration that should not be overlooked when making a final decision. Make sure you compare costs associated with development and maintenance for each of the languages being considered before making a final choice.
Types of Users That Use Programming Languages
- End Users: People who use programming languages to make everyday tasks easier, such as writing a document, creating a spreadsheet, or making a presentation.
- Business Professionals: Individuals who use programming languages for corporate purposes such as creating databases, maintaining web applications, and developing software.
- Developers: Programmers who develop software using various languages like Java, C#, Python, Ruby, and more. They specialize in its implementation and debugging.
- Data Scientists: People who use programming languages to analyze large datasets to gain insights from the data in order to improve business decisions.
- Web Developers: Developers who create websites using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. They are responsible for designing website layouts, coding pages and integrating user interface elements with backend systems.
- Mobile App Developers: Software engineers specialized in developing mobile applications for popular platforms such as Android and iOS using Objective-C or Swift in combination with UI/UX design principles.
- Network Administrators & IT Professionals: Individuals who use scripting languages to automate system administration tasks including configuring services over networks or managing virtual machines on cloud servers like AWS or Azure.
- Database Administrators (DBAs): Professionals that maintain databases by tuning queries for optimal performance or writing stored procedures or triggers when needed. They often work with SQL-based databases like MySQL and OracleDBs.
- Security Experts & Ethical Hackers: Security experts that use scripting languages for security testing as well as hunting down malicious actors across complex network infrastructures deploying custom scripts written in Python or Shell Scripting.
- Game Developers: Programmers specialized in the development of video games. They use languages like C++ and Python to create 3D models, develop game mechanics, and integrate AI elements into their projects.
How Much Do Programming Languages Cost?
Programming languages generally do not cost any money, as most of them are free and open source. However, some languages, especially those with very specific applications or libraries available, can require a license to use. Additionally, programming language compilers or interpreters usually require payment in order to gain access to their full features. Furthermore, if you want access to proprietary development tools that speed up the process of writing code for certain language platforms – such as Microsoft’s Visual Studio for Windows programming – these may also come at an additional cost. Ultimately, whether you need to pay for any part of your programming language setup depends on the application you’re developing and the desired features or support options required from the language itself or its related tools.
What Software Is Used With Programming Languages?
Software that can integrate with programming languages is typically categorized as development tools. These types of software include text editors and IDEs, which allow developers to write and edit code; compilers, which interpret source code into executable programs; debuggers, which help fix errors within code; and interpreters, which execute source code on-the-fly. Additionally, a variety of libraries and frameworks exist that provide pre-written functionality to developers so they don't have to struggle with writing complex algorithms from scratch. Software also exists for version control and source code management tools (like GitHub), task automation (like Grunt or Gulp) and application testing (like Selenium). All these tools make it easier for developers to create software applications faster, more reliably and with better performance.