Which programming language should I learn? We get this question a lot, and it’s perfectly okay if you are asking the same. There are hundreds of computer languages as of 2023. Choosing which language to learn can be daunting. We’ve written this article to help you with make that decision.
It’s important to mention that there is no ‘best’ language. The reason can be boiled down to two reasons: what you want to do and your personal preference. Some languages are tied to specific tasks while some, can be used for a variety of things. Take SQL for instance, this scripting language is only used when interacting with SQL-based databases. You can’t use it to create a website or a mobile app, but you’ll need it to manage a database.
A language like C++ is termed as a general purpose programming language. This means that it can be used to do different things like creating compilers, websites and assembly programming. Even though it’s considered general tool, it’s better suited to do some tasks like low-level programming. What am trying to show you here is that, whatever you are trying to do, will determine the language you’ll need to learn.
What about personal preference? Each individual has their own views about the world. It also affects what they think is best or better than the other. You are no different. What might be best for you might not be good enough for somebody else. And that’s fine. A coding language like JavaScript and Python can be used to create a web server. Either of those, works. So, consider trying different languages before you finally stick to what sounds like you.
I’ve categorized these languages into two classes based on the assumption that you want to create websites or mobile apps. Kindly note that these categories are not exhaustive. There are other categories like data science, compiler design, assembly programming and more that I have not covered in this article. In each category, I list some of the top programming languages in 2023.
Website Development
1. Python
Python is a very popular interpreted computer language. It is mostly used in data science and machine learning. However, it also used to create websites, desktop apps, scripts to automate tasks, and on IoT devices.
Python is considered to be a beginner friendly language compared to other languages. It has a simple syntax that makes the language very easy to use. Django and Flask are most popular web framework for Python. These frameworks have necessary tools and functions to help you create and manage websites.
2. Javascript
This is the programming language that is used on the web. Javascript is used together with HTML and CSS to create fully functioning website. The great thing about learning Javascript is that you can use it both on the front end and the back end with Node.js. The back end is the server side of the website while the front end is the part of the website that users can see and interact with.
There’s a large community of Javascript developers.
Mobile App Development
This category can be broken down into two, native app development and cross platform app development. If you only want to create mobile apps for iOS or Android, check out the category on native apps. On the other hand, cross platform app development makes it possible to create mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices from the same code base.
Native Mobile App Development
1. Kotlin/Java
Kotlin is not the same as Java. However, Kotlin was created as an enhancement to Java. As a result, they are completely interoperable. You can use Java classes and functions in Kotlin and vice versa.
Kotlin uses Jetpack Compose to create native UI. Compose makes it easier and faster to create and maintain your UI. It also has support for Material Design 3. Jetpack Compose uses the declarative API to build native UI.
In the near future, Kotlin developers will be able to create mobile apps for both Android and iOS.
2. Swift
This language was created by Apple for building apps for iOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS and tvOS. It considered beginner friendly because of its simple yet expressive syntax. If you only want to build applications for Apple devices, you need to learn swift.
Cross Platform App Development
1. React Native
React Native is an open-source Javascript framework that was developed by Meta. It’s build on top of Javascript. It lets you build cross-platform mobile applications with Javascript. This is a huge benefit if you already know Javascript.
2. Flutter
Dart is the programming language that is used to create mobile applications that run on both Android and iOS. It has modern features such nullability, first class functions, interfaces and OOP.
Flutter is a framework that uses Dart language to create elegant and natively compiled cross-platform applications.
It’s good to mention that React Native provides better performance for native apps than Flutter.