Top programming languages for 2017
'Programming language' are words most often heard from friends who are into software development or from various other sources, like while reading about an application and its creation. Just like a language lets us express our views and leads us and others to certain actions, the functionalities of computers are guided by languages of their own. Therefore programming language can be referred to as the set of instructions, codes, syntax and other commands used by programmers or designers of programme, in a particular mode, in order to convey algorithms or to transmit the signals for making a device, a computer mostly, to behave in a certain manner. The languages may be high level, low level, compiled and interpreted. The popularity of each of the examples belonging to the categories may rise or fall in popularity with release of new editions, withdrawal or obsoleteness of one product, etc.
TIOBE Programming Community index and PopularitY of Programming Language (PYPL) index are some of the most reputed ranking sources for the scripting software and the trend that exists. Also, the trends on GitHub, the development platform, as well as, on HackerEarth, the network of developers, lead us to the information on what is in use currently. Based on the various reports, let us take a look at some of the most renowned programming languages, which are expected to be in demand for creating various applications.
Java
The Object-Oriented high-level programming language, which has been the favourite of the most of the developers for years, is also a leader at present and may continue to rule this year with upcoming Java 9. The swiftness and sturdiness in its performance is something that is unmatchable. And, the free, open-sourced platform it provides is icing on the cake. If that were not enough, the portability and dynamism adds to its credibility. The use of Java expands to around 7-10 million programmers and around 3 million devices globally, according to various claims. That is a whopping figure and speaks of the preference that it enjoys. The popular sites like Amazon, e-bay, LinkedIn, Google Plus and many other famous websites use Java, even IRCTC. The Android applications and Hadoop for Big Data analytics are other examples of its wide reach.
Python
A general-purpose, open-source, interpreted language, Python is one of the most usable languages, for the experts and for the beginners as well. Many universities use it for the beginner courses and even the tech majors like Yahoo, Google along with PBS, NASA, etc. make use of it. The interesting combination of simple syntax and easily readable code with powerful performance and convenient debugging makes it a great choice. Not only this it is also bestowed with flexibility feature in terms of feature building and solving same problems with different methods. Some of the major areas of its professional efficiency are data analysis, scientific operations, web development (backend processes) and artificial intelligence. Moreover, Python is also used for designing games, desktop applications, productivity tools, etc. The worldwide demand for Python has grown at a decent rate and it seems that this year will only add to this rate.
Java Script (JS)
Another dynamic language, it is also a lightweight one that is used by several web pages. It is an interpreted language and is also a ‘real’ one unlike CSS and HTML (other technologies contributing majorly in WWW production), which only define the look of something. Although JS and Java sound a bit similar, they are quite different from each other since the former is a scripting language that works only on browsers and is inspired by Self and Scheme. There are some features like being object-oriented, multi-paradigm, having similar syntax and libraries, which are commonly found in them. Apart from being used for creating trendy websites and games, it forms the basis of the server technology Node.js, which functions as real-time communicator, apart from its other functions. The industry favourite JS is also to look out for in the coming year, as it finds place among the top gainers of almost all the trusted indexes. In fact, it featured at the top on GitHub list ahead of its September 2016 conferences.
C++
The C++ is a hybrid extension of C language and possess the qualities of both being a language for low-level and high-level programming. A popular choice for designing game engines, embedded software, device drivers, audio or image processors, the very important desktop applications, web applications and many other programs. The generic and object-oriented programming features coupled with powerful performing capability is the strength of the C++. Its major component features are direct hardware mapping and zero-cost abstractions on the basis of the mappings done, which make it fit for system programming. The cross-platform language is largely used for designing desktop environments on Windows and Linux and it its demand has surged highly last year. The framework of this language has influenced many modern scripting languages, as well as, creation of useful applications and that is probably going to continue this year too.
C
Although a fairly old language, the value of the less-functional and less complex predecessor of C++ has not diminished even with new languages coming in with improved functionalities. So much so, that it was adjudged the most popular language in 2015, which is not far back. Succeeding the B language, which came out in early part of 1970s, the C was used to write the entire UNIX OS, as well as, the core of the Linux and has been in use for compiling on an array of computer platforms. The easy to learn, structured high-level language has the ability to create efficient programs and can very well handle low-level activities. It performs relatively well in critical situations like dealing with enormous volume and traffic of data, streaming of audios and videos and effectively runs on embedded hardware environment. The static type system of this imperative scripting software restricts many unwanted operations. The control structures and many basic features of C has been borrowed indirectly by many new frameworks and is among the leading probable top programming languages for 2017.
C# (C Sharp)
The name of the language, as evident, is inspired from musical notation and it is quite simple and easy to learn, yet very efficient. Since it is installed in combination with the .Net framework, which allows the use of various languages, it is also called the .Net Language sometimes. The language has an expressive syntax and allows special data types, where users can type the null values along with the normal range of values. Moreover, the features like enumerations, direct memory access, delegates and lambda expressions are also provided. Many secured and robust programmes can be created using this object-oriented, open-sourced and type-safe language, be it the client-server, XML web services, database applications, mobile applications or any other windows client and store applications. With gradual maturity and increase in popularity, it is expected that C# will remain a preferred programming language in 2017.
PHP
An acronym of Hypertext Pre-Processor, PHP is a widely used language for scripting server-side development and web development applications. Although it is preferred for creating web pages in HTML, the capabilities of the languages can be extended to output PDF files, text (like XML and XHTML files), images and also Flash movies (with the help of Ming and libswf). It supports a wide range of operating systems and web server and databases while also offering the liberty to make a choice between Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and procedural programming or an amalgamation of both. Being used as a CGI processor or a module, it is laden with many advanced features and helps in building dynamic and imperative web pages. Many popular websites like Wikipedia, Tumblr, Word Press and other websites use this programming language as part of their development process and the use is bound to increase in 2017.
Go
With a great combination of fair built-in support, simplicity, efficiency and high level performance, this language created by Google has managed to amass high popularity. Many start-ups have adopted Go in for running various applications and that is probably because it fast compilation, a nice standard library, dynamic interfaces, garbage collector, a runtime, other attractive features. The language has inept ability to handle concurrency, i.e., it is suitable for writing programs that have several parts running independently. The free, open-source programming language eliminates features that cause bugs and other complexities. The inheritance and polymorphism concepts of OOP has been done away with in GO. In February Go 1.8 version was launched with important changes in the standard library and the improvements in terms of performance. Going by the reports, the projected growth of Go is quite high in this year.
R
There are already a great number of jobs related to R and as the trend goes it will not be a surprise, if it becomes the most sought after among the ones in the list. R is a versatile and highly analytical-friendly language that supports efficient data mining, statistical computing and modelling with its extensible features. The free to use R comes with a number of packages for various purposes and many more can be availed from Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). Thus for its coherency, it is more suitably referred to as an environment. It is a dialect of language S, is an interactive programming language and has significantly superior data storage and handling capability. The graphical facilities that the language comes with, is outstanding and hence can be used for making high-level graphical representation.
Swift
This is a relatively new entry into the probable list of the top ten programming languages of 2017, as reported by TIOBE Index, a monthly measure of the demand and acclaimed status of the software scripting languages.
The language has managed to climb above the likes of Scala, Ruby, MATLAB, etc., however, it is expected to be restricted in its growth as its application is limited to the apple frameworks - iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS. Apart from this, it is touted as being capable of functioning as server-side language. The features of the language are the compactness and expressiveness of its syntax, reciprocity, fun element and as per the name, fast-paced operation. Swift 4 which is due to be released in later part of this year, is said to be bring Application Binary Interface (ABI) compatibility for creating more buzz.
Apart from these top 10 probables in the race for most popular programming languages, there are many more which have managed to create substantial buzz. These are Perl, Ruby on Rails, MATLAB, Visual Basic.NET, Objective-C, CoffeeScript, Arduino, Scala, Jolt, Assembly Language, Delphi/Object Pascal, PL/SQL, Scratch, etc. The possibility of these new languages in upsetting the above ranking cannot be denied, given the rate with which they are used by modern developers.
