When learning web development, most people are told to start with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), although these are not the same as programming languages. HTML and CSS are markup languages for creating electronic texts (or pages) and designing websites, respectively.
Web programming languages, on the other hand, are more complex and are used by any web development company for back-end and front-end web development. So, what are the most widely used web development languages in the world? What’s the difference between them? Continue reading to find out.
Top 7 Web Development Languages
1. Javascript
JavaScript is the only language on this list that can be used on both the server and client sides. JavaScript is mostly used for creating a user-friendly and interactive front end for most websites, regardless of their size or complexity. As a result, it consistently ranks first in Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Hired polls of the most widely used coding languages. While you consider server-side development, JavaScript is a high-level programming language with multi-paradigm (object-oriented or functional) characteristics, dynamic typing, and several libraries or frameworks, such as Node.js, React, or Vue.js, that is cross-platform.
2. C#
C# stands apart from other web programming languages since it was created specifically for Microsoft’s .NET framework. As a result, being involved in C# Web development limits developers from using other web development frameworks. As a result, it only includes libraries and types for adding functionality to.NET. Despite this, the language continues to gain popularity in the building of various online apps and web APIs, as well as the development of video games for PC and Xbox.
3. Python
Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. It was used by 44 per cent of the software developers according to a survey, placing it second only to JavaScript. Python has a wide range of applications in IT (for example, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Video Games), but it is particularly useful in the scientific domain since it allows the collecting of empirical data and integration with relevant databases. Python is a high-level language that is also beginner-friendly, thanks to its simple syntax and support for a variety of libraries and tools. It may also be used as a scripting or object-oriented language, and it has a robust type system, making debugging considerably faster.
4. PHP
PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is mostly used on the server-side of basic, dynamic websites and online apps, such as Drupal, WordPress, Flickr, and Facebook. Many open-source extensions like .NET, Apache, or Bzip2 are supported by PHP web development, besides access to databases like MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, etc. Because certain PHP functions are comparable to those in the C programming language, PHP developers can extend PHP’s capability by building C plug-ins (also known as add-ons or extensions).
5. Ruby
Some people mistake Ruby for an acronym of Ruby on Rails when they hear about Ruby on Rails web development. However, it is essentially a popular Ruby web framework, with typical projects on Airbnb, GitHub, and CodeAcademy. Ruby is a high-level, object-oriented language, which means that “every value is an object” and that no basic data types are accessible. It also has robust, dynamic typing and garbage collection — a memory management system.
6. Java
According to Hired, Java, like Python, is a favored coding language with 38 percent of global users due to its well-maintained libraries and web frameworks. Java is an open-source, object-oriented programming language that is very popular for its reliability. Other advantages include the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), which allows it to operate on a variety of platforms, and the ability to reduce security risks and manage memory storage automatically while creating with Java. As a result, Java is frequently utilized to create Android mobile apps or large-scale complicated web projects.
7. C++
C++, along with other web programming languages, was used to create a number of well-known websites, including Google, Twitter, and Amazon. C++ has a big support community and a large number of libraries to give extra functionalities being one of the oldest programming languages in the world. C++ is still popular today because of its simplicity of learning and succinct language of only 60 keywords. The language was designed as an extension of C and therefore has inherited many of its features.