What Programming Languages do the Most Popular Websites Use? The results may surprise you!
So, I was on what the kids call wiki-wiki-pedia the other day and I thought I’d look up what programming languages the most popular websites use. I know, most people look for civil war factoids or if their favorite band from their teenage years is still around but I guess I’m just weird like that…
Now, I’ll be honest with you, it’s better to watch this vid to see firsthand what I’m talking about but, quick spoiler, on the front end (that’s to say “code that lives in the web browser”.) it’s all JavaScript. But what’s most surprising is the back end where it’s almost all JAVA, PYTHON, C, C++, PHP, etc. Yup, pretty surprising (or not, if you’re pretending to be one of those “I’ve seen it all” programmers). The reason I bring this to your attention is that I want to “give you some insight into how effective a programming language is; how ‘serious’ a programming language is…Some people look at a programming language and say ‘it’s not serious, it can’t work on big projects’.” Well when you consider what these giants of the industry are doing (and you’re assuming they know their onions), you start to see that these languages are still very capable of doing the “heavy lifting”.
But seriously, check out the vid to put it all into context.
Also, blink and you might miss it: another quick dig at RUBY (mwahaha). Enjoy!
Kotlin is a general purpose, open source, statically typed “pragmatic” programming language developed by “Jetbrains” and endorsed by Google. As a light, nimble way to take advantage of the vast Java ecosystem and libraries, without the weight of Java code, spoiler alert…it’s gonna be pretty awesome. Now that being said, should you drop everything (including JAVA) and start learning KOTLIN?
Not necessarily. As we’ve said before stick to your fundamentals/basics, remember: “Newb programmers will think in terms of languages, -OMG, my career is based on THIS language- The reality of the situation is advanced developers will move from language to language, from framework to framework, depending on the requirements of the job at hand, depending on where the work is.”
So what’s the big deal about KOTLIN? Well it’s more about what KOTLIN represents… it’s a lighter/faster version of JAVA, it’s pretty versatile in terms of what it can be used for (including android apps), and to put that into perspective, “lighter languages tend to win out over other heavier, more verbose languages”. With computers getting more and more powerful and faster and faster, the preferential choice is given to languages that are quick, adaptable and versatile, and KOTLIN checks all these boxes.
Now, like we said in the second paragraph, there’s no need to drop everything and worship new and fast, especially if you already know JAVA, JAVASCRIPT, C#, PYTHON, PHP, etc… they share so many similarities that you could jump into them relatively easily. If anything, rejoice guys! Stick to you basics and your job may be faster and easier…and hopefully more fun too.
Click here for some hardcore mountain-driving scenery, which will turn into city driving, but not before we give RUBY the slightest little dig…mwahaha.
Enjoy!
Just watching the WWDC, and Apple has a new app coming out that will allow students to learn Swift on the iPad. They’ve solved the keyboard issue as well – now you have direct access to code important keys.
It’s been a few days since the xCode 6 beta and Swift was released by Apple to members of the iOS Developer Program. I’ve been working with Swift and created a few screencasts but because of NDA restrictions, I cannot post the videos!
🙁
But, I can talk about the language and teach you how to code in Swift – just without showing you xCode Beta 6.
I’ve already put out a quick article (on KillerPHP.com) a few days ago where I went over some basic concepts in Swift.
The NDA should be unlocked very soon and so my videos will have to wait until then. But in the meantime, I will be covering Swift and iOS programming using other code editors and releasing those publicly. In private though, I will be working on Swift screencasts and as soon as the beta period is over, I will release them all.
I think Apple’s Swift programming language will quickly become one of the most important languages you can learn. Besides being the language of MacOSX, you can use Swift to swiftly create iOS (iPad, iPhone) games among other apps.
… Did I mention games!!
iPad will become the Gaming Platform
I think iPad and gaming will become one. Consider these facts:
Already major gaming companies are porting complete games to iOS.
There are new games that now play on both consoles like PS4 as well as the iPad. So now you can play online vs people who are on their PS4, while you are on the iPad.
Some of the most popular games in the world are on mobile only – Ipad being dominate.
What makes Swift Special?
Swift was announced about 2 days ago and I just installed the beta yesterday … so I’ve only just written a bit of Swift code so far. That said, it looks like a powerful language that writes like a nimble scripting language – reminds me of Python.
What makes Swift special is found in it’s namesake – it’s fast, easy to learn and easy to write. Apple claims Swift runs much faster than Objective C and especially Python.
Swift Playground
Along with the Swift language, Apple created an app that allows you to view your code working in real-time, this application is called Playground and it comes with the iOS SDK and Xcode. You can learn more here:
