With the popularity and
advancements in web technology, it is imperative for every business to have a
website and one which is highly functional and visually attractive. The process
through which a good website, mobile apps or other similar platforms are created
is known as web development. One of the most integral aspects of web
development is web programming that is achieved with the help of programming
languages. Web development languages are the platforms through which
instructions are communicated to a machine and actions are pursued.
In this article, we
shall learn more about
1) web development and programming languages as
well as
2) focus on the most popular programming languages in
the world.
WEB DEVELOPMENT: AN
INTRODUCTION
Web development is a
term that is used to refer to the process of creating a website and can range
from developing a single simple page to a series of complex pages. Web
development encompasses several actions or practices and some of them
include web design, content
creation, programming, network security tasks as well as client side or server
side scripting, etc. In the recent few years, web development has taken the
definition of the creation of content management systems or CMS, which is the
mid-step between the user and the database. In order to pursue web development
as a profession, one of the most important things that you will need to
consider is having expertise in programming languages.
A programming language
is used to control the actions of a machine. Such a language is a properly
drafted or constructed language when it is designed in such a way that through
it instructions can be communicated to a computer system. Ever since the
invention of computers, thousands of programming languages have been created,
and more are being created every year.
A programming language
is generally split into two components that are the semantics and the syntax.
Where on one hand the syntax is the form or type, the semantics are the meaning
of that type or form. Every programming language is different; where on one
hand, some may be marked by a specification documents, others may have a
dominant implementation or a reference. A programming language thus broadly is
a notation that helps to write programs that are identified as an algorithm.
Traits of a programming language
The features or
characteristics of a programming language can be referred to as its traits. The
following are the three main traits of such languages that you must know about:
·
Abstractions – Most of the programming languages have
certain rules that help us define or mark the data structures as well as
manipulate the way in which the commands are executed. These rules are referred
to as abstractions. Every language needs to be supported by sufficient
abstractions and this need is defined by the abstraction principle. The
abstraction principle in some cases is derived as the recommendations given to
a web programmer so that he/she makes the correct use of abstractions.
·
Function
and target – When you make
use of a programming language, then besides doing the writing work on your own,
you also need the help of the computer system that performs the computation
work or controls the algorithm. The computer also controls the external devices
associated such as the printer, the robots, etc. Thus, the complete definition
of a programming language includes a description or a machine or processor that
has been idealized for that language. This is one reason why programming
languages differ from human languages of interaction.
·
Expressive
power – Languages
are mostly classified by
the computations that they are able to express. This very expressive power is
yet another trait of programming languages and is an important one.
Factors to be considered when choosing a
programming language
Since there are so many
different types of programming languages, it can be difficult for a web
developer to select which one to use and which one to leave. There are certain
factors on the basis of a decision can be made, and they are given as follows:
·
Targeted
platform – The first thing
you need to decide is where the program will be run. Not all languages are
capable of running on all kinds of platforms. For example, a program written in
C language requires compilers to run on Windows and Linux based systems.
·
Language
domain match – The language
must be chosen on the basis of the problem domain that you have. One of the
better ways to do so is by searching that language others in the same domain or
industry are using or by trying to look for a code that resolves the issues
that you may have.
·
Efficiency – The compilers that go well with the
language you choose must be efficient so as to make the language perform fast.
·
Elasticity
and Performance – The language you
choose must be flexible enough to let you add more programs or features in it.
Also, its overall performance must be to your suitability and liking.
·
Availability
of libraries – There must be a
library that is capable of solving all your problems with the language that you
select for web development.
·
Project
size – There are two
types of programming’s: large and small. You must select a language that can
support your cause and suits the project size well.
·
Expressiveness
& Time to production –
Make sure you pick that language that is highly expressive and the time taken
to produce the programs or codes is not very bothersome to you.
·
Tool
support – Buy a
tool-oriented language that offers you many elements and ways to edit, control
and work.
The universe of
programming languages is wide and knowing all or learning each one of them is
neither practical nor possible. If you are a developer who is interested in
learning the most useful and popular ones, then you must first know which ones
of the thousands of languages to learn. Thankfully, there are certain
websites and platforms that create lists of the top languages,
according to their popularity. The list of the top 15 programming languages of
this year are given below, and it is clear that JavaScript is the most popular
followed closely by Java, Python, and others.
Top 15 programming languages in 2015
1. JavaScript
2. Java
3. Python
4. CSS
5. PHP
6. Ruby
7. C++
8. C
9. Shell
10. C#
11. Objective
C
12. R
13. VimL
14. Go
15. Perl
Let’s learn about some
of these top languages in detail.
1. JavaScript
JavaScript is one of the
most popular and dynamic programming languages used for creating and developing
websites. This language is capable of achieving several things including controlling
the browser, editing content on a document that has been displayed, allowing
client-side scripts to communicate with users and also asynchronous
communication. It was developed by Netscape and borrows a lot of its syntax
from C language. JavaScript is used very widely and effectively in creating
desktop applications as well as for developing games.
One of the best things
about JavaScript for you as a developer or a website owner is that this is one
of the few programming languages that are accepted and supported by all the
major browsers without the need of any compilers or plug-ins. It can also be
worked with on platforms that are not web-based, for example-desktop widgets
and PDF docs. This is a multi-paradigm language which means that it has a combination
of features. Also, JavaScript supports functional and object-oriented
programming styles.
The features of a
language define the way it will work, the way it responds, how easy is its code
and what it can achieve. The following are some of the main features of
JavaScript programming language for your reference:
·
Structured – JavaScript is a highly structured
language with a proper and planned syntax that has been derived from C. This
language too has a function scoping by it lacks block scoping, unlike C. It too
differentiates between statements and expressions, just like the fundamental C
web programming platform.
·
Dynamic – The types in JavaScript are not related
with variables but with values. This is a dynamic programming language that
enables you to test the type of an object in many different ways. Also, this
programming language is object-oriented where all the objects are associative
arrays.
·
Functional – All functions in JavaScript are objects
and are all first-class. They are associated with their own functions as well
as characteristics. For example, a function within a function is called a
nested function whereas this language also supports anonymous function.
2. Java
Java is yet another
highly popular and widely used language that you can consider for web
development. This language is an object-oriented, class-based and concurrent
language that was developed by Sun Microsystems in the 1990s. Since then, the
language continues to be the most in-demand language that also acts as a
standard platform for enterprises and several mobile and games developers
across the world. The app has been designed in such a way that it works across
several types of platforms. This means that if a program is written on Mac
Operating system then it can also run on Windows based operating systems.
Java, when it was
designed originally, was developed for interactive television, but the
developers realized that this language and technology was way too forward for
this industry. It was only later that it was incorporated into the use it
serves today.
Every language is
created with a certain mission, goal or objective in mind. The following are
the 5 major principles or goals that were kept in mind during the creation of
this language:
·
It must be a secure and
robust programming language
·
It must be an
object-oriented, simple language which becomes familiar soon.
·
It must be capable of
being implemented and executed with high performance.
·
It must be threaded,
dynamic and interpreted.
·
It must be portable and
architecture-neutral.
3. Python
Python is a highly used
and all-purpose programming language which is dynamic in nature. Being dynamic
in nature means that you as a developer can write and run the code without the
need of a compiler. The design of the language is such that it supports code
readability which means that its syntax is such that only a few lines of codes
are needed to express a point or a concept. This concept of code readability is
also possible in the case of Java and C++, etc. This is a high-level or
advanced language that is considered easy for beginners to understand and
learn.
Some of the apps that
are powered by Python are Rdio, Instagram, and Pinterest. Besides this, some
other web platforms that are supported by Python are Django, Google, NASA, and
Yahoo, etc. Some of the other features of this language include automatic
memory management, large library, dynamic type system and support of many
paradigms.
Python works on a core
philosophy and follows its main principles in all seriousness. The language was
designed with the aim of making it highly extensible. This means that the
language can easily be incorporated or embedded in existing applications. The
goal of the developers of this language was to make it fun to use one. The
developers worked on the language in such a way that it could reduce upon
premature optimization. Here’s a look at some of the principles that have been
summarized for you:
·
Readability is important
·
Complex is better than
complicated-
·
Beautiful is better than
ugly
·
Simple is better than
complex
·
Explicit is better than
implicit
4. CSS
CSS or Cascading Style
Sheets is rather a markup language. When paired with HTML, CSS allow a
developer to decide and define how a web page or a website will eventually look
or how it will appear to the visitors of the web platform. Some of the elements
which CSS has an impact on include font size, font style, the overall layout,
the colors and other design elements. This is a markup language that can be
applied to several types of documents including Plain XML documents, SVG
documents as well as XUL documents. For most websites across the world, CSS is
the platform to opt for if they need help to create visually attractive
webpages and finds use not just in the creation of web applications but also
mobile apps.
The language’s syntax is
pretty similar to that of HTML and XHTML, which work well in synchronization
and combination of one another. The Style sheets included in CSS consist of a
selector and a declarator. The simple syntax of the language uses several
English language words to define the styling properties.
5. PHP
The term ‘PHP’ is used
to define PHP Hypertext Processor language
that is a free server-side scripting language that has been designed for not
just web development but also as a general-purpose programming platform. This
is a widely used language that was created in the year 2004 and now powers over
200 million websites worldwide. Some popular examples of websites powered by
this platform include Facebook, WordPress, and Digg.com.
PHP is an interpreted
script language which means that it is usually processed by an interpreter. For
this reason, the language is most suitable for server-side programming that
have server tasks being repeatedly performed when the website development
process is on.
The following are some
more points that shall help you understand the language better:
·
PHP is an open source
language and fast prototyping language.
·
This language is
compatible with UNIX based OS as well as Windows OS.
·
Some industries where
PHP is mostly used include startup businesses, advertising apps, and small
software organizations as well as media agencies.
·
The language can be
embedded in HTML directly.
6. Ruby
Developed in the year
1993, Ruby is a dynamic programming language that is used for the creation or
programming of mobile apps and websites. The language successfully balances
imperative programming with functional programming and is a highly scalable
language. This open source platform is not only simple to understand but also
easy to write. But if you are a developer who wants to learn Ruby, then you
will also have to equip yourself with the knowledge of Ruby on Rails or Rails
which is another framework which can help you make it interesting to deal with
Ruby. For those who are interested in creating small business software and for
those who are into the field of creative designing, Ruby is the perfect
programming language.
During its development,
the idea was to come up with a language that was more productive in terms of
programming and has a concise and simple code. Ruby is mostly used in the web
servers where there is a lot of web traffic. Some examples of platforms that
make use of this programming language include Hulu, Twitter, and Scribd, etc.
7. C++
C++ is a general
purpose, well compiled and case sensitive web programming language that is not
only imperative but also offers facilities for low-level memory manipulation.
Since the language makes use of both low-level features as well as the feature
of high-level languages, it is considered as a middle-level language. This
language was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in the year 1979 and was later
enhanced and renamed in 1983. Since C++ is an object oriented language, it
supports the 4 principles of object oriented development including
polymorphism, encapsulation, inheritance, and data hiding.
C++ is similar to C
language in a lot of ways and is in fact the superset of C. This means that any
program of C language is a program of C++ programming language. The language
has many technical details, but the key to learning this language for you is
not to get lost in these details but rather concentrate on its concepts.
Like any other language,
this language too based on a philosophy and has certain elements that make it
what it really is. C++ consists of three important parts, and they are given as
follows:
·
The
standard library of C++ is
capable of giving a rich combination and gamut of features such as strings and
manipulating sets, etc.
·
The
standard template library or
STL is capable of giving a rich set of methods manipulating data structures and
other elements.
·
The
core C++ language has the capability
of giving the building elements like literals, data types, and variables.
8. C Language
C is another
general-purpose and imperative programming language which was developed way
back in the 70s and is similar to C++ language. This language is known to be
the most widely used programming platform that offers building elements for
other languages like C++, Python, Java and others. These languages borrow
features either directly or indirectly from it, and some of these include
control structures, overall syntax, and standard libraries. This is the reason
why if you want to learn programming, it is advisable that you learn C and C++
first and then move onto the others after strengthening your foundation. Some
of the features that this language supports include static type system, lexical
variable scope, recursion and structured programming.
The following are some
of the points which shall help you understand the overall design of C language:
·
The language was
designed in such a way that can be easily compiled by making use of a simple
compiler.
·
The language was designed
to offer a low-level access to memory.
·
It was designed in a way
that it should need minimum possible run-time support and encourages
cross-platform programming.
