The world of computer programming might be confusing at times. You may want to be an app developer but struggle to find a programming language and then end up learning languages that have no use in the future.
1. Instead of Html -> Markdown
HTML is a markup language that helps in web development from scratch. CSS is a styling language, that beautifies your HTML website. Markdown is easier to write than HTML, and it's easier for most humans to read Markdown source code than HTML source code. However, if you want to achieve a particular effect, you may stick to HTML.
2. Instead of PHP -> Javascript
If someone says “JavaScript is only for front end development, and PHP is for the back end” — do not listen. PHP is a programming language for back-end development only. JavaScript, in turn, was initially designed as a front-end development language. But with the introduction of Node.js in 2009, JavaScript became full-stack. JavaScript is the best solution for low latency applications, such as streaming platforms. Node.js is sped up even further by the V8 engine, constant server connection, and callback functions. The effort you put into learning JavaScript totally pays off. Since JavaScript is more universal than PHP, the learning effort brings much more value.
3. Instead of Java -> Kotlin or Scala
When it comes to android development, Java is not very suitable for Android API designs due to certain limitations. It needs more manual work which may increase the number of errors in it. JIT compiler makes the program comparatively slow. It has high memory and low process requirements. You don’t have any control over garbage collection as Java doesn't have any functions like delete(). When considering all the pitfalls of Java, especially the problem with NullPointerExceptions, Kotlin seems to be the better one among the two. Using the Kotlin Multiplatform framework, you can extract one common codebase that will target all of them at the same time. It’s more concise and expressive than Java, which means there is less room for error. Uses lots of function types and specialized language structures like lambda expressions. However, before you switch, it has a small community of developers, so it lacks learning materials and professional assistance. Scala is another great alternative, but it comes with some cons. Kotlin is a safer alternative than Scala.
4. Python for Go?
Now python has been the most popular language. However, it may fall down even lower, as Go is gaining more popularity day by day. At present Python is way more popular and has more community than Go, but don't let that fool you the trend of developers from python switching to Go. Python has been the easiest-to-learn programming language so far, but with the introduction of Go, Go is even simpler. Some say Go is as easy as JS. Python lacks in-built concurrency, unlike Go. Python is more focused on the web application, and Go as a system language, but still, it's slowly replacing Python's share of web apps. Python offers no memory management, whereas Go you can go dirty with memory management. Go is a way faster language than Python. However, Python is not defeated by Golang in terms of machine learning. For that to happen, Go needs to have more frameworks specifically designed for this purpose since using raw code can seem too time-consuming. It is difficult to draw conclusions in Go vs. Python because comparing an extremely popular mature language with a relatively young one does not seem fair. One clear advantage of Go is its speed. While Python bows down to Go in terms of code execution, Go admits defeat in the production speed. If you are interested in learning Go do keep an eye on GeekTech, on which I'm the co-writer and will publish a Golang basic tutorial soon.
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5. Instead of C/C++ -> Rust
Rust is a multi-paradigm programming language focused on performance and safety, especially safe concurrency. It is syntactically similar to C++ but provides memory safety without using garbage collection. Rust programming language was developed by Mozilla with the aim of creating a better tool for developing their browser Mozilla Firefox. However, the language appeared to be so effective, that many programmers are now opting to use it for software development instead of using C++. Rust is syntactically similar to C++, but it provides increased speed and better memory safety. Rust is a more innovative system-level language in terms of safer memory management because it does not allow dangling pointers or null pointers. It is created for being secure and safe without affecting performance and speed. Mostly Rust is used to develop device drivers, operating systems, Mozilla firefox, games, etc. C++ has huge community support and many frameworks for software development but rust doesn’t have that much support in comparison to C++. On the other side, Rust is much better in several aspects, like memory safety, concurrency and it lets you think more carefully about memory usage and pointers. Almost anyone who uses Rust can state that programming in this language is easier due to well-defined semantics and the prevention of unwanted behavior. In C++, developers have more issues when trying to avoid undefined behavior. Furthermore, C++ is a deep ocean when compared to Rust since C++ has so many features and opportunities for implementation that it can become challenging to keep track of them.
6. Instead of C++ -> Ruby
Ruby has a very clean syntax that makes code easier to both read and write than more traditional Object Oriented languages, such as Java. For beginning programmers, this means the focus is on the meaning of the program, where it should be, rather than trying to figure out the syntax. Objects are strongly but dynamically typed in Ruby. The “constructor” is called initialize instead of the class name, unlike C++. lib, a unit testing comes standard with Ruby. Nothing like that is available in c++. Type conversion is necessary for C++, however, in Ruby, there is no type conversion. You can re-open a class anytime and also you can add more methods in Ruby, which isn't available in C++. Multithreading is not built-in in the case of C++, whereas Ruby has built-in Multithreading.
Both Ruby and Rust are great alternatives to C/C++.
7. Instead of Objective C -> Swift
Now if you are into apples, and IOS app development, you must have heard of Objective C. However, Apple has now started to ditch Objective C, instead is pushing Swift. Swift is a much more modern language. It's also human-friendly thanks to simpler syntax. It means that it's easier to learn as well. Swift will have only 30% of lines of code in comparison to one written in Objective-C. A popular example is Lyft which converted Objective-C to Swift losing over 60% of the code. Decreasing the amount of code not only speeds up the development process but also results in fewer errors and quicker and cheaper testing. Apple claims Swift to be 2.6 times faster than Objective-C. To optimize memory management Swift employs ARC (Automatic Reference Counting). Moreover, Swift supports Dynamic libraries which boost application performance as well. Swift has been designed according to Apple's experience with Objective-C. So switching to swift is an ultimate win.
Summary
In the end, it's mostly personal preference, on what language suits you. It depends on what you want, what syntax you like, what process suits you. In future, old docs may never be replaced, but new languages shall be used for newer project for more flexibility. Thanks for reading.
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