Posted by: Joel Ndungla Category: API Development, App Maintenance, Web/Mobile Development Comments: 0

Programming languages for a static website

The creation of a static website requires the use of basic programming languages. HTML and CSS are the most common. JavaScript is increasingly used to complete the programming work around the structure of the website. These 3 languages are specific to the development of graphical interfaces, also called frontend development.

HTML/CSS

These are 2 complementary languages. They represent the ABCs of web development. For its part, HTML has the role of structuring the web page. It makes it possible to constitute its skeleton. On this basis, the developer can integrate graphic and visual elements from the CSS language and then position them with respect to each other.

HTML has the advantage of being universal and independent of any operating system. It works based on a distributed structure, i.e. external links fit in perfectly. This makes it possible to modify an element without modifying the page where it is located. Finally, HTML allows the integration of both local and remote elements, via a connection to a server.

As a universal and simplified language, HTML can be limited in terms of page formatting. If you want to store your data locally, it is also not entirely suitable. What’s more, storage can quickly become cumbersome, depending on the number of pages on your website.

JavaScript

JavaScript is an interpreted programming language. It has the particularity of being client-side activated. This means that when the user opens a web page, the browser activates the code to display the page.

JavaScript allows the embedment of scripts between the HTML elements of the page, usually to add an animation or a visual effect. It is a useful language for enhancing the user experience, as it allows you to add interactivity without slowing down the page.

The main advantage of JavaScript is its security. While your browser can retrieve a script from an HTML page, there is no risk of it accessing your files.

As a language interpreted by browsers, JavaScript is interpreted in different ways from one browser to another. Some browsers are too old to keep up with the language and may not be able to display scripts.

Programming languages for a dynamic website

A dynamic website is generally a site that manages data. It is then connected to a server, with which it communicates via a dedicated language. Just as for languages called “clients”, there are many programming languages called “servers”. This type of development is called backend.

PHP

PHP is a scripting language that, unlike JavaScript, executes on the server-side. It is closely related to HTML, with PHP tags embedded in the core HTML code. For the client, it is impossible to see if PHP has been used.

The main role of PHP is to develop good communication between the web page and the server. In this sense, PHP guarantees the stability of web pages.

The main advantages of PHP are its great flexibility and its compatibility with many databases, but also with most operating systems.

PHP can have the disadvantage of generating random URLs, which need to be rewritten to avoid having your pages penalized by search engine spiders.

Ruby

Ruby is a relatively simple, flexible, and easy-to-use open-source programming language, especially for beginners. It is interpreted, object-oriented and multi-paradigm and is increasingly used. It presents a different vision of development.

While Ruby can be learned fairly quickly through practice, it is a language with a very different syntax from others. Ruby is probably the most object-oriented language, in the sense that the communication between the different language elements is very flexible.

Programming languages for a mobile application

As mobile users become more and more numerous, mobile applications need to have more and more advanced features to meet their expectations. If you are planning to develop a mobile application, the choice of a programming language will depend on the operating systems on which you want the application to run.

Java

The Java language is suitable for developing a native mobile application on Android. It has an extensive documentation, which a large community of developers around the world use.

Taking into account that Java is designed for Android, you will need a 100% Android environment to develop the application. However, it is increasingly easy to run your application from an iOS or Windows operating system.

Even if Java is a generic language, we have to distinguish :

JVM (Java Virtual Machine).

JDK (Java Development Kit).

JRE (Java Runtime Environment).

Indeed, it is important to ensure that all development teams work on the same kit, especially when part of the development is outsourced, even if the majority of professionals are happy with the JDK.

Swift

Swift was created by Apple specifically to develop applications for iOS, but also Mac. It is an open-source language that is increasingly used and is overtaking traditional languages for developing applications for phones. Swift is based on the Objective-C language. Swift elements can be integrated directly into it.

The advantage of Swift is that there is a growing body of documentation, fed by developers who are interested in it. Apple also makes a large number of resources available to professionals and students.

For now, the downside of Swift may be that it is limited to Apple. This should not last long, as the language will also be adapted to Linux. On the performance side, it seems that Swift still has room for improvement.

C#, C or C++

The C language in all its forms is one of the oldest programming languages. It was developed in the 1970s to program systems. Its evolutions C# and C++ are extremely stable languages. They are recommended for beginners who want to learn to program because they adapt to the evolution of new languages.

Programming languages for artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more integrated into the web and its uses. With it, many programming languages are developing.

The most commonly used: Java and Python

Java and Python are the two most popular codes in artificial intelligence programming. Python has many advantages: it is fast, light, easy to install, and compatible with most operating systems. On the other hand, it is not suitable for developing artificial intelligence for mobile applications.

While it may have the disadvantage of being slower, Java is simple to learn and use. Moreover, it also adapts to all development platforms.

The new ones: Julia and Scala

If you are in the learning phase and want to take advantage of this to get a head start on the languages used, why not take an interest in Julia and Scala? These two languages are very recent and have been growing significantly in recent years.

Julia is a language close to Python in terms of syntax. It is dynamic, easy to learn, stable, and free at the same time. On the other hand, Scala represents a good balance between the syntax of Ruby and the stability of Java.

To find out more, check out this free guide to HTML and CSS for marketers.

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