A Short Overview of Popular Programming Languages
Tags: beginners
Published: 2020-09-30 13:14:30

We're always hearing how popular JavaScript is – was and probably will be –; often enough, maybe, that it starts going in one ear and out the other. But besides good O'l reliable, what are the other programming languages that bear the heavy crown of popularity alongside JavaScript? And what exactly are those languages supposed to do? Below's a short look at some of the other JavaScripts of the computer programming world.



##Python
![Python came out in 1991](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/t9k17m3q84g7w23cljfk.png) 
If we weren't constantly hearing about JavaScript, I'm sure we would be hearing about Python. Python came out in 1991 and is currently on its third rendition: Python 3. 
It's a popular choice for beginners because it is said to be picked up easily enough because of its readability and flexibility (however, the latter is sometimes cited as one of Python's downsides). 
It's a popular programming language for anyone interested in backend web development, data analysis, AI, and otherwise more data and science-focused web development. 



##SQL
![SQL – pronounced "sequel"](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/d1j6o0vofct99diykbfr.png)
Structured Query Language – abbreviated "SQL" and pronounced "sequel" (¯\_(ツ)_/¯) –  is a language that communicates with the databases of applications, pooling or otherwise editing the data stored within it. It's been more or less a standard as far as languages that query databases go since the 70s, despite other languages cropping up over the last 40-some years. In 2020, it was voted third Most Popular Technologies by StackOverflow. 


##Java
![False Friend alert! Java and JavaScript are (very) un-related languages](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/mf4zksyn1p46up5xo80v.jpg)
Java is an object-oriented and class-based language that came out of the sunny state of California in the 1990s, and has been a popular programming language ever since. 
It is currently on its 12 version – Java 12, but has kept up a certain momentum over the last three decades that have made it as an exciting and attractive language for developers to pick up as it was at its beginnings.  
It is usable for developing apps and applets (widgets) on laptops, game consoles, cellphones – particularly those running on the Android Operating System, since [the OS itself runs on a Java language environment](https://www.bestprogramminglanguagefor.me/why-learn-java). 



##PHP
![PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page"](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/qdr4eszjvy284337qkg3.png)
PHP – short for *PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor – is a server-side language (like SQL!) released in 1994 (the current rendition is **PHP7**) that allows for dynamic web-pages, and has been ranked consistently high since its release in 1994. 
Facebook, WordPress, and Tesla, and Wikipedia (and many others) all use the language, and it is a popular language among seasoned and beginner developers alike; it was ranked number 9 in StackOverflow's Most Popular Technologies list of 2020.


##Go
![Go's Gopher Mascot is an essential part of Go](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ddfp6jpro1t5x4k6l66y.png)
Go is an open-source programming language developed 14 years ago by Google developers, and has quickly become a favorite by beginners in [systems programming](https://willcrichton.net/notes/systems-programming/). It is a convenient language for building web servers and data pipelines. Uber, Twitch, and Soundcloud – along with Google, duh – all use Go in some or other capacity, from determining what's offered to you based on your location ([Uber](https://brainhub.eu/blog/biggest-companies-using-golang/))to powering Google Earth and Youtube, among others.
 

##Swift
![Swift was officially launched in 2014 ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/gxyshf88phjxcf90acxu.png) 
Apple's Swift is one of the greener languages on the list, having been officially launched in 2014. It is the de facto language of all iOS, and thus the de facto language of Apple. Although it doesn't rank on every single list out there, it does have a dedicated following (owing to it's devoted Apple fanbase). Although one of the more niche languages on the list, Swift creates beautiful applications for phones and desktops and is friendly enough in its syntax and application for beginners to [pick up](https://docs.swift.org/swift-book/).


##Ruby / Ruby on Rails
![So-named because of its ability to automate so much code.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/y6memirrnkneve4g88nt.png)
Ah, good ol' ruby. Although you can see countless articles on the internet about the death of ruby dawning nigh, the fact of the matter is that ruby – and in particular the ruby on rails framework – remains a popular programming language for beginners and seasoned programmers and developers alike. It can count Twitter, Airnbnb, and Shopify – as well as countless others – as sites that were developed with the rails framework. 

There are so many programming languages out there, it might feel a little overwhelming at first to see so many languages out there. 

![Beware colorful graphs and the anxiety they can bring to new devs](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ejn1h3d84mtutktjgsng.jpg)

But that doesn't have to be the case! Understanding where your strengths and passions lay is the first step, and the one taken before you can figure out which language you should put your weight behind – front-end-centric languages? Platform-specific languages? Class-based or just Object-Oriented (or not!)? 
It's all about getting started with baby steps.