The world of web development is growing at lightning speed, with businesses demanding high-functioning and visually attractive websites. There are many languages and frameworks available in the market that can help you in delivering a good website. Here we will discuss the top programming languages used by developers the world over.
Whether you want to expand your skills in web development or build your own site, this post is for you.
First of all, why learn a programming language, when you can easily install and customise a WordPress website using simple drag-and-drop functionality?
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS), but has several limitations in terms of:
- Customisation
- Performance
- Scalability
- Interactivity
- Flexibility
To overcome these limitations, you might have to develop a website that is tailor-made for your functionality and business purpose. And for that you will have to learn one or more of the top programming languages listed here.
Related: How to turn your web design side hustle into a full-time business
Top programming languages
If you are a beginner in the field of web development, then choosing the correct language from the pool of options can be a big task. This list should help.
- Go Programming.
- Erlang.
- Python.
- PHP.
- Ruby
Now, here is my compilation of the top five programming languages that every techie should know.
1. Go Programming
Go Programming or GoLang is a free, open source language created at Google. Developers like it because it’s fast, compiles in seconds and produces 11.5 MB executable files. It is easy to learn and read, even for non-GoLang programmers (especially those familiar with C-style syntax).
A few more benefits:
- It’s a statically typed language.
- It has built in garbage collector and memory safety.
- Comes with a standard library, including packages that make it easy to stand up a web server, handle I/O, work with cryptography and manipulate raw bytes.
- Testing support is built into the standard library. There is no need for an extra dependency.
There are a few drawbacks however. GoLang doesn’t have generics, which reduces your options to reuse code. It’s hard to tell from looking at a struct whether or not it implements an interface (you have to actually attempt to compile the program). The Library support could also be better.
Learning Resources:
2. Erlang
Erlang is also an open source language. It is particularly useful for distributed, reliable, soft real-time concurrent systems. According to one user, “the transparency of data structures in Erlang makes programming much easier.”
Features include:
- A simple, powerful model for error containment and fault tolerance.
- Concurrency and message passing are fundamental to the language. This makes context switching between Erlang processes cheaper than switching between threads in a C program.
- Ease of writing applications made of parts that execute on different machines (i.e. distributed applications).
- The OTP libraries provide support for many common problems in networking and telecommunications systems.
- The Erlang runtime environment (a virtual machine, much like the Java virtual machine) means that code compiled on one architecture runs anywhere.
Learning Resources:
3. Python
Python as a programming language has seen significant advances in the recent past. It has English-like syntax, which makes it more intuitive for programmers to use. Python is also an open-source language.
Python is extensively used across a wide range of applications, from web development to machine learning.
This language supports object-oriented programming and is compatible with the majority of platforms and systems. Django, an open-source framework based on Python, powers popular websites like Instagram, Pinterest and The Washington Post.
Learning Resources:
4. PHP
PHP (Personal Home Page) is a general-purpose scripting language that runs on the server side and renders web pages written in HTML. PHP is relatively easy to set up and is ranked No. 4 in the GitHub report.
PHP is the backbone of WordPress, so it is one of the most popular languages in web development.
If you want to become a freelance web developer, picking up this language is an excellent choice. Due to the popularity of WordPress, there is a growing need for developers who can customise or develop WordPress themes and plug-ins.
Learning Resources:
5. Ruby
Ruby was designed to speed and simplify web development. It is mostly used with web servers that support significant web traffic. Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a popular server-side web application framework written in Ruby.
RoR’s principle is to develop a website with minimal code and flexible rules.
However, being a dynamically-typed language with great flexibility makes it a difficult language for maintaining complex web apps.
The vibrant community and ability to develop excellent websites in less time makes this a good choice for beginners. Ruby on Rails supports some of the most popular websites including GitHub, Shopify and Airbnb.
Learning Resources:
Welcome to the world of programming
Well, it’s rather hard to say objectively which programming language is the best. People will always have different perspectives on this topic. However, by looking at the current development trends and demand, it’s evident that GoLang and Python are two of the most important languages for web developers today.
So what are you waiting for? Choose your language and click on the resources links to get started in the rewarding world of web development.
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