What are the languages used for?
What Programming Language Should a Beginner Learn in 2015?
JavaScript
Not to be confused with Java, JavaScript is a primarily client-side scripting language used for front-end development. JavaScript is compatible across all browsers and is used to create interactive web apps, often through libraries such as jQuery and front-end frameworks such as AngularJS, Ember.js, React, and more.
JavaScript can now also be used as a server-side language through the Node.js platform, and while Node.js is relatively new, the community is gaining a lot of momentum. You can also build hybrid mobile apps with JavaScript through using frameworks such as phonegap, while Facebook’s React Native aims to allow you to build native mobile apps with JavaScript.
On a side note, Facebook’s React also supports JSX, a JavaScript syntax extension that would compile as JavaScript.
Ruby
Developed to make developers have fun and be productive at the same time, Ruby was made popular by the Ruby on Rails framework, a full-stack web framework optimized for programming happiness. As Ruby reads like English and Rails has tools that make common development tasks easier “out-of-the-box”, many would recommend learning Ruby as your first programming language.
Ruby is mostly used for backend development, and popular sites such as Airbnb, Shopify, Bloomberg, Hulu, Slideshare, and more have been built with Ruby on Rails.
Python
Python is another highly recommended language for beginners, and is the most popular introductory language at Top U.S. Universities. Developers have used Python to build desktop apps and web apps alike, and it has great tools for data mining. In addition, Python is particularly popular with the academic community for scientific computing and bioinformatics.
Google, Dropbox, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, BitTorrent, Civilization IV, and more have been built with Python.
PHP
PHP is a server-side scripting language and is usually considered beginner-friendly because it’s easier to conceptualize what the PHP code will do, so it’s not difficult to pick up. Most websites have been built with PHP because the language is heavily specialized for the web.
Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Tumblr, WordPress, and more have been built with PHP.
Java
As a general-purpose language, Java is used to build Android apps, desktop apps, and games. Java is also commonly used as a server-side language for enterprise-level backend development – 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Java.
Furthermore, Hadoop is a popular Java-based framework used for storing and processing big data, and is implemented by enterprises such as Yahoo, Facebook, and Amazon Web Services.
CC is often used to program system software and is the lingua franca of Operating Systems.
C has influenced almost all programming languages we’ll be examining in this article, especially Objective-C and C++. So, if you know C well, you’d probably have less difficulty picking up other popular languages. Since C takes more complex code to perform simple tasks, beginners may find it tough to keep themselves motivated if they choose it as their first language. However, knowledge of C will definitely help you as a programmer.
Objective-C / Swift (for iOS development)
Objective-C is a layer built on the C language, making it static, but it can also be used for dynamic typing. Apple’s Swift is a static language designed to be compatible with Objective-C, but its static-typing makes it more resilient to errors.
Inspired by Python, Swift aims to be easy for coding newbies to pick up. We will mostly be examining Objective-C in this article as Swift is relatively new.
C++
C++ is a powerful language based on C. It is designed for programming system software, but has also been used to build games/game engines, desktop apps, mobile apps, and web apps. C++ is powerful and fast, so even Facebook has developed several high performance and high reliability components with it.
Many pieces of software have been built with C++, including Adobe Systems, Amazon, Paypal, Chrome, and more. Much like C, C++ is generally considered harder for beginners to learn on their own.
C#
C# (“C Sharp”) is developed to be used for Microsoft’s .NET framework, which runs primarily on Microsoft Windows.
C# is used for web development, game development, and general Microsoft development. Although Microsoft was not known for being cross-platform compatible in the past, Xamarin is also working on an open-source project called Mono, which aims to port C# to other platforms and bring better development tools to Linux developers. Recently you can also use C# to build native mobile apps for iOS and Android through Xamarin.
SQL
SQL (“Sequel”), or Structured Query Language, is a query language used to communicate with databases. Although SQL cannot be used to build apps, it is used to manage the data in apps that use relational database manage systems (RDMS).
What Programming Language Should a Beginner Learn in 2015?
Not to be confused with Java, JavaScript is a primarily client-side scripting language used for front-end development. JavaScript is compatible across all browsers and is used to create interactive web apps, often through libraries such as jQuery and front-end frameworks such as AngularJS, Ember.js, React, and more.
JavaScript can now also be used as a server-side language through the Node.js platform, and while Node.js is relatively new, the community is gaining a lot of momentum. You can also build hybrid mobile apps with JavaScript through using frameworks such as phonegap, while Facebook’s React Native aims to allow you to build native mobile apps with JavaScript.
On a side note, Facebook’s React also supports JSX, a JavaScript syntax extension that would compile as JavaScript.
Ruby
Developed to make developers have fun and be productive at the same time, Ruby was made popular by the Ruby on Rails framework, a full-stack web framework optimized for programming happiness. As Ruby reads like English and Rails has tools that make common development tasks easier “out-of-the-box”, many would recommend learning Ruby as your first programming language.
Ruby is mostly used for backend development, and popular sites such as Airbnb, Shopify, Bloomberg, Hulu, Slideshare, and more have been built with Ruby on Rails.
Python
Python is another highly recommended language for beginners, and is the most popular introductory language at Top U.S. Universities. Developers have used Python to build desktop apps and web apps alike, and it has great tools for data mining. In addition, Python is particularly popular with the academic community for scientific computing and bioinformatics.
Google, Dropbox, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, BitTorrent, Civilization IV, and more have been built with Python.
PHP
PHP is a server-side scripting language and is usually considered beginner-friendly because it’s easier to conceptualize what the PHP code will do, so it’s not difficult to pick up. Most websites have been built with PHP because the language is heavily specialized for the web.
Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Tumblr, WordPress, and more have been built with PHP.
Java
As a general-purpose language, Java is used to build Android apps, desktop apps, and games. Java is also commonly used as a server-side language for enterprise-level backend development – 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Java.
Furthermore, Hadoop is a popular Java-based framework used for storing and processing big data, and is implemented by enterprises such as Yahoo, Facebook, and Amazon Web Services.
CC is often used to program system software and is the lingua franca of Operating Systems.
C has influenced almost all programming languages we’ll be examining in this article, especially Objective-C and C++. So, if you know C well, you’d probably have less difficulty picking up other popular languages. Since C takes more complex code to perform simple tasks, beginners may find it tough to keep themselves motivated if they choose it as their first language. However, knowledge of C will definitely help you as a programmer.
Objective-C / Swift (for iOS development)
Objective-C is a layer built on the C language, making it static, but it can also be used for dynamic typing. Apple’s Swift is a static language designed to be compatible with Objective-C, but its static-typing makes it more resilient to errors.
Inspired by Python, Swift aims to be easy for coding newbies to pick up. We will mostly be examining Objective-C in this article as Swift is relatively new.
C++
C++ is a powerful language based on C. It is designed for programming system software, but has also been used to build games/game engines, desktop apps, mobile apps, and web apps. C++ is powerful and fast, so even Facebook has developed several high performance and high reliability components with it.
Many pieces of software have been built with C++, including Adobe Systems, Amazon, Paypal, Chrome, and more. Much like C, C++ is generally considered harder for beginners to learn on their own.
C#
C# (“C Sharp”) is developed to be used for Microsoft’s .NET framework, which runs primarily on Microsoft Windows.
C# is used for web development, game development, and general Microsoft development. Although Microsoft was not known for being cross-platform compatible in the past, Xamarin is also working on an open-source project called Mono, which aims to port C# to other platforms and bring better development tools to Linux developers. Recently you can also use C# to build native mobile apps for iOS and Android through Xamarin.
SQL
SQL (“Sequel”), or Structured Query Language, is a query language used to communicate with databases. Although SQL cannot be used to build apps, it is used to manage the data in apps that use relational database manage systems (RDMS).
What Programming Language Should a Beginner Learn in 2015?
