The programming language is just a tool to express thought(more precisely, an algorithm that represents a solution to any problem) to the computer. So it really doesn’t matter much, what programming language you use; your choice generally depends on personal experience/knowledge about the specific programming language.

Due an exponential growth and development in computer science, in the past twenty years, a lot of – new programming language has been invented and some old programming languages has become absolute, in the new technical infrastructure.

In current Apps/software development trend, User Interface creation has become very important and so every developer expects easy GUI creation tools/libraries from the languages. That’s why a lot of GUI Development toolkits is now available for most of the languages, to speed up the GUI development. So in this post, I’ll give you an introduction to some programming languages that is very popular(today) and used by most of the programmers, in developing real world applications – (see the picture for an overview of current trends, Data Source : third party websites)

programming-languages-popularity

Top 8 – Most Popular Programming Languages

1. Java
Java is a high level, object oriented, compiled (After compilation java bytecodes are generated, which is then executed by JVM (Java Virtual Machine), That’s why JAVA is platform independent)  programming language. Java is used in developing complex dynamic web applications, network programming and robotics. JSP(Java Server Pages), Servlets(Java programs that is executed on server side, and often used to process the client request) are the most popular java technology among web developers. A lot of good MVC(Model View Controller) frameworks are available like Struts, Play, Spring etc used to speed up the web development process. Swing is the most popular library/toolkit for creating user interface in java. it is static type programming language.
Features of Java at a Glance

  • platform independent
  • Object Oriented
  • Speed(Java Based web apps are faster than conventional CGI based Apps)
  • Static Typed
  • Advanced Exception Handling Mechanism
  • Memory Management and garbage collectors

2. C
C language is a high level, procedure oriented and compiled programming language. it is very fast and efficient for system programming. C exactly comes between the Assembly language and object Oriented language such as Java. GTK Toolkit is used for creating user interface in C. C is also static type programming language.

Features of C at a glance

  • Fast
  • static typed and compiled
  • more control, due to low abstraction
  • pointer

3. Ruby
Ruby is an object oriented and interpreted scripting language, mostly used in creating Web Applications. Ruby focuses on productivity. it is very human friendly. “Ruby on Rails” is one of the most popular framework for web apps development.

Features of Ruby at a Glance

  • dynamic typed
  • interpreted
  • optimized for productivity
  • programmer/human friendly

4. PHP

PHP (Hypertext PreProcessor) or Personal Home Page is the most widely used scripting language over the web. it is an object oriented Interpreted language, mainly used in server side scripting , for creating dynamic web pages/apps(php tags is embedded in html, which is processed at server side and the final static HTML content is send back to client). it has been influenced by perl and C. PHP is very popular as LAMP(Linux+Apache+MySQl+PHP) , for creating websites with open source technology.

Features of PHP at a Glance

  • dynamic typed
  • interpreted
  • simplicity
  • object oriented

5. C++

C++ as name implies, it adds some extra features(Object Oriented Features) to C language. So C++ is almost similar to C, with some added features. it is mostly used in system software development.

Main Features

  • Procedure Oriented and Object Oriented
  • Generic
  • static typed
  • compiled

6.  C#

C Sharp(or C#) is a generic, object oriented language developed by Microsoft , highly influenced by Java and C++. it is some sort of java, with improved reliability, productivity and security deleted (Claimed by James Gosling, the creator of Java).

Features of C#

  • static/dynamic typed
  • object oriented
  • optimized for Windows platform
  • implementation with .NET framework

7. Python

Python is a general purpose, high level,interpreted programming language. it supports all platforms. It focus well on code readability. it’s syntax is very clear and easy to learn, that’s why those who just started to learn programming, are recommended to start with Python.

Features of Python at a Glance

  • Interpreted
  • Dynamic/Duck Typed
  • Object Oriented/Procedure Oriented
  • Clear Syntax

8. Perl

Perl is another general purpose and open source scripting language. it is mainly used in web development and network programming. The perl focuses on the speed of coding and productivity. The perl code is very difficult to read and understand, but its size (Number of lines in the source code) is very small as compared to c or java. The latest version is 5.12, released few months ago.

Features of Perl

  • Dynamic Typed
  • Object Oriented,Procedural
  • Interpreted
  • less coding, so quick development

Updated Version of this Post – Most Popular Programming Languages of 2012

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14 Comments

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  2. actually I’m working as a system engneer in some company,,,,,,,,I have interrest towards programing side ,,,so which programing language will be better for me to learn, and this experience should not go in vain,so can u plz suggest me.

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  3. Pingback: how to install jdk on Ubuntu 11.04

  4. JAVA rocks and rules the world of programming languages. anyone who wants to be a proffessional in programming should learn JAVA or C++. in my opinion VB and its family is just an application sofeware , they are mearnt for lazy people who just want to click and drag.

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  6. For web apps programming I’d suggest PHP, for it’s free and easy setup. EasyPHP should get you up and running in less than 5 minutes. You’ll have the Apache Server, the PHP engine and the MySQL database. And use Notepad++ for scripting, nothing else is as good.

    To learn software dev you could try Java. It’s fun and easy, and it’s free. Just download and install the JDK and use Notepad++ (again).

    Worth mentionning NetBeans IDE. Great tool as well.

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  7. Java is still the best. The “Klitschko” of the software world.
    Of course, for accessing the GPU (CUDA or OpenCL), you will require C (or C++) and JNI. That should handle just about everything as regards the client. The server side can be written in pure java in most cases.
    PHP is popular, probably because it’s widely available on budget hosting companies. For small projects it’s probably o.k. (that’s probably being generous, PHP suffers from many issues, google if you’re interested).

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