What is a Programming Language

Any language is, in general, a means for communication. Programming language is a computer language, which is used for communicating with computers. It is a set of instructions (or code) that’s written to perform specific actions. Through the programming language, developers are giving the computer instructions in a way the machines can understand and follow. All programming languages have their own syntax, structure, and rules that must be followed in order to execute the codes without errors.

Types of Programming Languages Based on Different Aspects of Web Development

Now that you’ve decided to pursue web development, let’s begin by discussing its various aspects. In web development, there are three possible career options that you can choose: Front-end development, Back-end development, and Fullstack development.

1. Front-end development:

Front-end development is the process of developing the facade of the website, the part that a user sees and interacts with. Technologies used in front-end development are HTML (the markup language), CSS (the styling tool) and JavaScript (programming language).

HTML makes the skeleton of your website. CSS is used to style your website. It is concerned with the overall appearance of the website such as its fonts, colour schemes, and other elements. JavaScript is a high-level programming language that gives additional functionality to your website.

In other words, you can create a button using HTML tags and design it with CSS. But it is JavaScript that determines what the button should do, and where it should take the users.

As a front-end developer, you may either receive designs from web designers or be required to create them on your own.

2. Back-end development

Back-end development involves creating the website’s logistics; basically, things that happen behind the scenes.

For example, if you are running a restaurant the dining area is your front end and the kitchen is your back end. You don’t want everyone to see what’s going on in the kitchen.

Nodejs, Python, PHP, etc. are some of the main programming languages that are used to create the back end of your website. (Detailed description of each given below)

3. Fullstack development:

As full-stack developers, you are required to create both the front end and back end of the website. To be a full stack developer you need to master programming, database handling, API management, and security management.

Why do Some Programming Languages Work Better than Others

You may have noticed that not every programming language works the same way. Some tend to be faster than others. The reason behind this is associated with the level of abstraction of each language. Essentially, it defines things that the language takes care of automatically and things that need to be done manually. Some of the factors are:

  • Automatic memory management can cause languages to be slower than the ones that do not enforce it.
  • If a language has to be compiled, it will take more time as the source code has to be translated into machine code.
  • The efficiency of the compiler impacts the speed.
  • Languages that use an interpreter to translate can cause the software to be slow as it executes the program line by line. It also needs start-up time.

 

15 Best Programming languages for Web Development in 2022

Now that we have gone through the basics of programming languages, let’s take a look at the 15 best programming languages for web development in 2022.

  1. HTML
  2. CSS
  3. JavaScript
  4. Python
  5. Java
  6. Typescript
  7. Objective C
  8. C++
  9. SQL
  10. PHP

1. HTML

HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the foundation of web development that every developer needs to be familiar with. A popular skill for web developers, it is the 2nd most commonly used language in 2020, according to a survey by Stack Overflow. Although it is not a full-fledged programming language, it is the standard language used to create web pages.

Features

  • HTML provides the structure for the web pages and is responsible for the proper formatting of text and images.
  • It allows the use of templates so designing a webpage can be done easily.
  • It is lightweight and fast.

Pros

  • Quite easy to learn and implement.
  • Supported by every browser.
  • Free and accessible.

Cons

  • Static language, so not possible to create dynamic pages.
  • Need to write a lot of code for developing a simple web page.

2. CSS

Like HTML, CSS is another basic language that every developer must know. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and is often used with HTML to govern the style of a webpage. The combination of HTML and CSS is called the mother of all programming languages. The size, color, and positions of all elements in a web page are determined by CSS.

Features

  • It has a cascading style, meaning throughout a webpage, an applied style will cascade down from parent to child.
  • It supports responsive web design.
  • CSS upholds consistency due to its cascading nature.

Pros

  • Simple and beginner-friendly.
  • Improves page loading speed.
  • Simplifies customization of web pages.

Cons

  • Possibility of cross-browser issues.
  • Confusion due to multiple levels like CSS, CSS2, and CSS3.

3. JavaScript

Stack Overflow’s 2020 Developer Survey records JavaScript as the most commonly used programming language in the world. One of the reasons for its popularity is that it can be used for both frontend and backend web development. It is used to add behavior and interactivity to web pages and also includes several libraries and frameworks. JavaScript is a favorite choice of developers to create dynamic web elements like clickable buttons or animated graphics.

Features

  • It is a lightweight programming language.
  • The syntax is simple and easy to learn.
  • Besides web development, it can be used for developing mobile apps, games, and web servers.

Pros

  • JavaScript is very fast.
  • Easy to integrate with other languages.
  • It is simple and versatile.

Cons

  • No multiple inheritance support.
  • Anyone who knows how to see JavaScript code can see your website’s code.

4. Python

An open-source language that is easy to learn and use, Python is one of the most popular languages used for web development. For beginners as well as experienced programmers, Python is an ideal choice. It is used for backend development, data science, web app development, and automation. It has a huge collection of standard libraries, which makes programming using Python easier for developers.

Features

  • It has dynamic typing capabilities which makes it easy for developers to create complex websites that need constant content changes.
  • It is an efficient backend web development language and integrates with other programming languages like C, C#, and Java.
  • It can be associated with popular web development frameworks like Django and Flask to create web-based applications.

Pros

  • OOP characteristics simplify programming.
  • Extensively scalable.
  • Emphasizes code readability.

Cons

  • Interpreted programming language, hence slow.
  • Not suitable for developing mobile applications.

5. Java

In 1990, Sun Microsystems developed Java to add features to the C++ language. It was built on the Write Once Run Anywhere principle. Today, it is owned by Oracle and is one of the most widely used backend languages for web development. It follows the OOP concepts, has open-source feature-rich libraries, and is a good language to learn due to its moderate learning curve and high productivity.

Features

  • Java supports multithreading so multiple threads can be executed concurrently implying maximum CPU utilization.
  • It supports vertical and horizontal scaling with only slight code changes.
  • It can handle massive amounts of data and is highly secure.

Pros

  • Easy to learn, write, and debug
  • It is portable
  • It is robust and versatile

Cons

  • It consumes more memory
  • Slow compared to languages like C or C++

6. Typescript

An open-source programming language introduced by Microsoft in 2012, Typescript is one of the most wanted programming languages for web development according to GitHub. It is similar to JavaScript in syntax and semantics and is often called JavaScript++. Being more powerful than JavaScript, Typescript supports the development of enterprise-level applications with large codebases.

Features

  • Has several inbuilt debugging tools that make development simple
  • It is a type-safe language, hence type-related errors are reduced
  • Supported by Visual Studio Code, Microsoft’s free code editor.

Pros

  • Cross-platform and cross-browser compatibility
  • Supports OOP concepts
  • Increased code readability

Cons

  • Typescript code needs to be transpiled to Javascript code before running
  • Requires additional learning over Javascript

7. Objective C

Objective C or C is a simple and general-purpose language that was developed in 1972. It is a popular language and often one of the first choices of programmers who are beginning to step into the development domain. Objective C is majorly used to code for the iOS operating system.

Features

  • Supports dynamic typing and therefore has excellent flexibility
  • Used with Cocoa or Cocoa Touch framework
  • Supports dynamic memory allocation

Pros

  • Super easy to learn
  • Fast, powerful, and flexible
  • Can perform complex calculations

Cons

  • Error detection is difficult
  • Does not support OOP concepts

8. C++

An extension of Objective C, C++ is a middle-level programming language that was developed in 1980. It is a simple language and is quite useful and easy for beginners to handle. In addition to what Objective C offers, C++ supports features like object-oriented programming, exception handling, and type checking.

Features

  • Supports OOP concepts like abstraction, inheritance, and encapsulation.
  • Has a robust standard library
  • Quick and efficient compiling mechanism

Pros

  • Simple and portable
  • Highly scalable
  • Large community support

Cons

  • No automatic garbage collection
  • Complexities associated with pointers

9. SQL

SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a standard database language that is used in combination with another programming language. As a database query language, it is used to manipulate databases. It comes third in the list of most used programming languages by Stack Overflow, with more than 50% of developers using SQL for programming.

Features

  • It is used to create, read, update and delete records in databases.
  • It is widely used in business intelligence tools.
  • SQL has a simple syntax.

Pros

  • It is easily accessible.
  • It is highly functional.
  • It is portable.

Cons

  • It works well only with small databases.
  • Scaling is expensive and time-consuming.

10. PHP

PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is an open-source scripting language used for backend development. It is mostly used for developing dynamic, data-heavy websites and is an interpreted language. It is one of the most popular web page languages, and frameworks like Drupal and WordPress make use of PHP.

Features

  • It is supported by many third-party extensions like .NET, MySQL, and Apache.
  • It can output images, PDF, text, animations, and HTML.
  • It is compatible with cloud services.

Pros

  • Easy to learn and use.
  • Can be used on all major operating systems.
  • Has great community support.

Cons

  • Error handling features are not excellent.
  • Development using PHP only can be slow.


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