The 2nd phase of the 21st century beckons computer science and technology to work alongside the newest programming languages, aiming to embrace the industrial revolution defined by the changing business landscape, driven by innovation, inter-disciplinary cooperation, and inclusivity.
Furthermore, the programming languages have a clear tenet of shaping the aspiring software engineers with multi-dimensional thinking capabilities, problem-solving accompanying innovation and efficiently straddling in-between people and machines, all with a sense of globalization.
Which programming languages should you learn in 2021?
- Front-end web development – Javascript, Elm, TypeScript
- Back-end Web Development – JavaScript, Scala, Python, Go, Ruby
- Mobile Development – Swift, Java, Objective-C, JavaScript
- Game Development – Unity, TypeScript
- Desktop Applications – Scala, Go, Python
- Systems Programming – Go, Rust
Let’s discuss some of the best new programming languages:
Go (For Desktop Applications, Systems Programming)
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What is it?
Go is a general-purpose programming language applicable for (1) automating tasks, (2) creating web-server in the back-end, and (3) building many famous apps like – (1) Kubernetes, (2) Docker, and (3) the Heroku CLI.
What does not support?
- Oops,
- inheritance,
- sub-classing,
- super calls,
- virtual methods,
- GUI/front-end development,
- Modules/package management,
- Differences from familiar languages/ecosystems,
- Lack of generics,
- Missing Libraries,
- Error Handling,
- Debugging,
- Understanding best practices / Learning curves,
- Code organization / Code verbosity,
- Performance problems,
- Some language concepts;
Use-cases and applications
API/RPC services and CLI tools are the most common use cases of the Go programming language.
Kotlin (For Mobile Development)
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What is it?
Kotlin is an open-source, general-purpose programming language having a type interface and works across platforms. It reduces the boilerplate code, declares functions and simple structs/JavaBeans in one line. It annotates Get and Set, triggers auto-generating hashCode, toString, and other boilerplate equals. It avoids an entire class of errors by using the null-pointer exception, leverages existing libraries, and controls the Null references by the type system. It does not have any types, Invariant arrays, proper function types and use-site variance without wildcards.
Besides, (1) null safety, (2) collections and streams, (3) named parameters, (4) extension functions, (5) immutability, string interpolation, (6) singletons, sealed classes, (7) enumerations, (8) lambda expressions, (9) inline functions, (10) extension functions, (11) null safety feature, (12) smart casts, (13) string templates, (14) primary constructors, (15) first-class delegation, (16) type interface for variable property types, (17) singletons, (18) type projections, (19) declaration-site variance, (20) operator overloading, (21) companion objects, (22) data classes, (23) separate interfaces for reading only, (24) mutable collections and (25) co-routines.
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What does not support?
It does not support checked exceptions, Primitive types (not classes), Static members, Wildcard-types and Ternary Operators.
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Use-cases and applications
You may use Kotlin for client-side, server-side, web, and android development. Kotlin also brings in support for embedded systems, macOS and iOS. It creates mobile apps and server-side/client-side applications with JavaScript, JavaFX and data science.
Elm (For Front-end Web Development)
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What is it?
It is a functional programming language for front-end web development that compiles to JavaScript, ideal for building fast-executing user interfaces with zero errors at runtime. It is a ‘functional’ programming language that allows creating client-side interfaces without declaring HTML and CSS. It uses type inference to detect corner cases and help the user in detecting the error. It comes with a robust Type System and a compiler. It is functional and emphasizes usability, performance, and robustness.
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What does not support?
It does not support higher-kind polymorphism, creation of type classes. It does not have a generic map function that works across multiple data structures such as List and Set. It does not have any runtime exceptions – no “NULL” no “UNDEFINED IS NOT A FUNCTION”;
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Use-cases and applications
Elm is a domain-specific programming language that is useful for creating web browser-based graphical user interfaces.
Julia
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What is it?
Julia is a high-level programming language that is highly performant. It allows code reuse.
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What does not support?
Julia does not have an analog of MATLAB’s clear function. It does not support object-oriented programming.
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Use-cases and applications
It enables writing any general-purpose application and is suitable for numerical analysis, machine learning and computational science.
TypeScript (For Front-end Web Development)
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What is it?
Typescript is an open-source programming language. It is a super-set of JavaScript, object-oriented scripting language, has static typing, and supports modules. Typescript saves time catching errors, provides fixes before running code.
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What does not support?
Type-checking errors
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Use-cases and applications
‘Types’ define the shape of an object, enable better documentation, validates the code for correctness. It allows annotating the existing JavaScript with JSDoc, switching a few files for TypeScript and preparing codebase for complete conversion.
Python 3 (For Backend Web Development)
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What is it?
Python comes with simple syntax and applicability. It is a high-level programming language that creates general-purpose dynamic applications focusing on code-readability. It contains a comprehensive standard library and automated memory management. It also makes use of a modular programming approach. It has a vast community, numerous libraries to build just about any functionality with ease. It has versatile features, is interactive, interpreted, modular, dynamic, object-oriented, portable, high-level and scalable.
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What does not support?
Python supports one function that is capable of multiple tasks. You do not have to define multiple instances of a ‘function’; you may declare a name only once in a given scope and bind it only to a single object at a time. It does not let’s having multiple versions of a single function under the same name.
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Use-cases and applications
Python expends for efficient web and app development, web scraping, testing, computer graphics, data analysis, machine learning, big-data analysis and internet of things (IoT) solutions. It provides many templates, easing the process of creating web applications.
Conclusive: Embracing The Newest Programming Languages For Holistic Development
As the revolution continues to evolve, the pairing of humans and machines opens doors to countless opportunities across various industries. The upsurge in these areas is driven by the end consumers, as machines and information technology are no longer a private preserve of the industry.
While companies actively strategize integration, they focus on employing engineers for this transformation, are malleable, possess modern skills and business acumen. If you’re looking for a discussion, reach out to us here!