So You Want to Be a Programmer?
If the idea of sitting with your laptop and typing away cryptic code at what seems like the speed of light peaks your interest, then you just might have the programmers bug.
The question then becomes what language should you learn? There are more coding languages than there are spoken languages. At least that’s what it seems like. Just take a look at the list over on Wikipedia List of Programming Languages and your eyes will gloss over a list that needs to be broken into columns and scrolls for an eternity and is listed in alphabetical order.
Here’s the Top 10 Programming Languages to Focus On
I compiled this list after doing a significant amount of research. I wish I knew them all but I don’t. I am a web developer and some of the programming languages on this list are for computers and application development.
#10 Swift
Here’s a quick piece of information from The Swift Website.
Swift is a general-purpose programming language built using a modern approach to safety, performance, and software design patterns.
The goal of the Swift project is to create the best available language for uses ranging from systems programming, to mobile and desktop apps, scaling up to cloud services. Most importantly, Swift is designed to make writing and maintaining correct programs easier for the developer. To achieve this goal, we believe that the most obvious way to write Swift code must also be:
Swift was developed by Apple and is used for their various platforms which include MacOS, iOS, WatchOS and tvOS. It was created as a replacement to Objective C and is the future of developing for all things made by Apple.
This is going to continue to be a lucrative field for people who are interested in working with Apple Devices. You can get more information from Swift Documentation
#9 Go
Go was developed by Google with the goal of simplifying and improving their ever increasing code base. Google uses a variety of coding languages for their various platforms.
Here’s a quick bit of info straight from the Golang website.
The Go programming language is an open source project to make programmers more productive.
Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It’s a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.
Go has been around for a few years and is quickly being adopted by developers and will continue to increase in popularity considering the company behind it.
You can learn more about Go from their official website GoLang Docs
#8 Ruby
Ruby, a general purpose and object oriented programming language, supports multiple programming paradigms and is used to create web apps. Apart from being easy to use, Ruby is known for its power. Ruby on Rails (Rails is a framework) is in high demand these days.
Here’s some info straight from the Ruby Website.
Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.
Ruby on Rails, as mentioned above is a framework that’s used with Ruby. This is a great way to build web applications and the job market for Ruby and Ruby on Rails is one that will continue to be strong.
You can get more information about Ruby on their official website Ruby and for Ruby on Rails visit their site Ruby on Rails
#7 C
C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations. By design, C provides constructs that map efficiently to typical machine instructions, and therefore it has found lasting use in applications that had formerly been coded in assembly language, including operating systems, as well as various application software for computers ranging from supercomputers to embedded systems.
C was originally developed by Dennis Ritchie between 1969 and 1973 at Bell Labs, and used to re-implement the Unix operating system. It has since become one of the most widely used programming languages of all time, with C compilers from various vendors available for the majority of existing computer architectures and operating systems. C has been standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) since 1989 (see ANSI C) and subsequently by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
#6 C++
Based on C, C++ is a general purpose programming language that has influenced many other modern programming languages. Tons of daily applications, software, drivers, firmware, etc., used by us are written in C++. It’s considered to be an intermediate level language that has the qualities of both high-level and low-level programming language.
#5 C#
Designed by Microsoft, C# (pronounced C-sharp) is a general-purpose, modern, object-oriented programming language. This relatively newer language breathes life into a wide range of Microsoft applications that are powered by .NET Framework. The programming in C# is very much based on C and C++. So, if you have a basic idea of C and C++, learning C# won’t be much tough.
You can learn more about C# on Microsoft’s Website. C#
#4 Python
Python is a widely popular and general purpose programming language. Just think about the job and a Python framework is there for you. Due to its simple syntax, it’s also recommended as the first programming language. Without a doubt, Python is one of the best popular programming languages you can run in 2018.
Python can be easy to pick up whether you’re a first time programmer or you’re experienced with other languages listed in this article. Python is also the language of choice for many computer science programs offered in universities all over.
Get more information about python directly from their website. Python.org
#3 PHP
PHP is a server-side scripting language that primarily focused on web development. It forms the base of two internet giants, WordPress and Facebook. If you wish to become a web developer, PHP is an important language that you need to learn.
PHP powers over 80% of modern websites and is installed on virtually all web servers which makes it extremely easy to get a dynamic website up and running versus having to configure a server to enable it to use other languages.
#2 Java
Java, a general purpose and object-oriented programming language, is used for creating server-side applications, video games, and mobile applications. As it’s the core element of any native Android application, Java keeps enjoying an enormous popularity among the developers.
Java is installed on over 15 billion devices around the world making it one of the most widely used programming languages.
#1 JavaScript
JavaScript, also known as the language of the web, is at the top as it’s basically everywhere. This is a high-level, dynamic, and interpreted programming language that’s supported by all modern web browsers. It allows developers to build web applications and add interactive elements to the websites.
While JavaScript started as a front end scripting language, it’s now being used as a server side option with NodeJS. This is putting it directly in competition with PHP as a server side language used by developers.
There are also frameworks and libraries that make JavaScript even more powerful. Some of these include React, Angular, jQuery and others that enable developers to create web applications that scale and can be created in a fraction of the time than it used to.
The Takeaway
So which language will you start learning? There are many to choose from and ultimately it depends on what platform you want to work on. Are you going to work on mobile apps or desktop software or web development? Decide first then immerse yoruself with the language you choose.
Good Luck on your coding journey.