The Top 10 Programming Languages (For Techies only)

Tech Impulsion ^ | Feb 2012 | Ajit Singh

[SeekAndFind]

The knowledge of a handful of programming languages could come to be a lifesaver to many a programmer, especially since most languages that were popular 10 years ago are not as viable as they are now.

But there are many developers who have earned their worth simply by knowing the right programming language at the right time, simply because they had solid skills that were profitable while the language was popular.

Here are some languages though, which stayed popular through the years, and prove to give young developers a jumpstart to their careers, and always are a bonus to add to any developer’s resume, as compiled by TIOBE software, a coding standards company.

1. Java

What is it?
 An object-oriented programming language developed in the late 1990s by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems.

Why is it important?
This “beautiful” programming language is central for any non-Microsoft developer, i.e. any developer who focuses on the non-.NET experience. It is mostly derived from C and C++ but has a more basic object model. It ranked first on TIOBE’s list of most popular programming languages.

2. C

What is it?
C, a general purpose programming language built by Dennis Ritchie when he was a part of Bell Telephone labs, is the bass of C++ and other programming languages. It was built to work with the Unix operating system.

Why is it important?
C is one of the most widely used programming languages of all time, and ranked second on the list. “Learning C is crucial. Once you learn C, making the jump to Java or C# is fairly easy, because a lot of the syntax is common. Also, a lot of C syntax is used in scripting languages,” Wayne Duqaine, director of Software Development at Grandview Systems, of Sebastopol, Calif., told eWEEK.
 

3. C#

What is it?
This general-purpose programming language developed by Microsoft evolved from C and C++ as a part of the software company’s .NET initiative.

Why is it important?
This language is an essential part of the .NET framework, so developers who use Microsoft heavily will find it critical, according to Duqaine.

4. C++

What is it?
C++ is a general purpose multi-paradigm spanning compiled language that has both high-level and low-level languages’ features. It was started as an enhancement to the C programming language, Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979.

Why is it important?
It is one of the most popular programming languages, winning fourth place on the list, with application domains including systems software, application software, server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games.  The language has also greatly influenced many other popular programming languages, such as C# and Java.

5. Objective-C
 

What is it?
This object-oriented programming language created first by Brad Cox and Tom Love at their company Stepstone in the early 1980s, adds Smalltalk-like messaging to the C programming language.

Why is it important?
This language is most used on the Apple iOS and Mac OS X. Objective-C is the principal language used for Apple's Cocoa API as well.

6. PHP

What is it?
This language is especially suited for Web development because of it easy embedding into HTML pages. It is an open-source, server-side, cross-platform, interpretive HTML scripting language

Why is it important?
It is a popular language, ranking sixth on TIOBE’s list. "High-speed scripting with caching, augmented with compiled code plug-ins (such as can be done with Perl and PHP) is where the future is. Building Web apps from scratch using C or COBOL is going the way of the dinosaur," said Duquaine, according to eWEEK’s report.

7. (Visual) Basic

What is it?
This is an event-driven programming language which is implemented on Microsoft’s .Net framework.

Why is it important?
This language ranked as the seventh most popular language on TIOBE’s list, probably because it was designed by Microsoft to be easy to learn and use. According to Tim Huckaby, CEO of San Diego-based software engineering company CEO Interknowlogy.com, “It is currently dominating in adoption and that is where all the work is,” as in eWEEK’s report.

 8. Python

What is it?
This is an event-driven programming language which is extensively used by Google because of its simplicity. It is managed by the Python Software Foundation.

Why is it important?
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to combine "remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive.

It is releases on 4 September 2011, 6 months ago.It is developed by Python Software Foundation.

9. Perl

What is it?
Being a high-level programming language, its emphasis lies in code readability and clear syntax. It combines Object-oriented and functional programming styles, and is often used as a scripting language. Perl is an open-source language used widely to process text through CGI programs.


Why is it important?
Perl’s efficiency in processing of piles of text has ranked it ninth in terms of programming language popularity. It is used extensively to write Web server programs for a variety of tasks. “Learning some form of scripting language, such as Perl or PHP is critical if you are doing Web apps," told Wayne Duqaine, director of Software Development at Grandview Systems, of Sebastopol, Calif., in a talk with eWEEK.

10. JavaScript

What is it?
JavaScript is an object-oriented scripting language that is smaller than Java. Being a client-side language, it runs in the web browser on the client-side with a simplified set of commands, easier code and no need for compilation.

Why is it important?
JavaScript is simple to learn and is the tenth most widely used programming language. It is used in millions of web pages to authenticate forms, detect browsers and improve design, and it is easier to run these functions as it is embedded into HTML.

[ConservativeMind]

Well, I would have thought that, but that chart specifically states that Java is client-side.

[lurked_for_a_decade]

I've used every single one on your list accept for ruby and C# and VB. You can add two assembly languages (IBM 360 and DEC MAC 11), FORTRAN, COBOL, PL1, Pascal, Forth, Lisp, and Algol.

I go back to Athena, News, Open look, Motif, awt, SWING all MIT X!! stuff! etc.

I've worked on RSX11, VAX VMS, Multics, IBM MVS/CMS and UNIX since system III around 1977 in all three/four family trees - AT&T SYSTEM 5 Release X, UCB 3.l and 4.X, AIX, Solaris X, HP UX, and most vaiants of Linux.

Have “man -s 2, 3 and 3c XXX” both classic and POSIX memorized - actually have nightmares about it! (LOL).

My all time favorite is K & R C. No computer training is complete without these classics

“The White Book”, Kernighan and Ritchie “The C Programming Language”. Hello World. We're not worthy (LOL).

Kernighan & Pike, “The UNIX programming Environment”

Stevens “UNIX NETWORK PROGRAMMING”,

Bjarne Stroustrup “The Annotated C++ Reference Manual”,

and the Classic “Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software” by the committee of four.

Lately I've been working on ESB/SOA Enterprise Service Bus/Service Oriented Architecture software using Mule, Camel, activeMQ and QPID in JAVA with the Eclipse IDE from IBM.

My brain hurts!

[Chode]

nope, that's a new one on me...

[Peet]

If you’re a typical computer science grad today, there is COBOL code in production that is older than you are.

[Terpfen]

Thanks for all the copypasta. Your assumption that I have no idea what I’m looking at is particularly endearing.

[ShadowAce]

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Your assumption that I have no idea what I’m looking at is particularly endearing.

And why would you think that? That thought never crossed my mind.

[Betis70]

Ruby has great regrex support built in. Java (finally) now has library support now.

[nickcarraway]

I’m surprised C would be above Java. I can’t believe JavaScript is that low. I think JavaScript engineers are in the greatest demand.

[bt_dooftlook]

I miss “Circuit Cellar”...

[bt_dooftlook]

Started with DEC Basic-Plus, then did DG’s mini-computer version of COBOL, then 8080 Assembler code and FORTRAN in college.

After college, did APL, VAX COBOL, VAX VMS, C/C++, UNIX scripts, and PL/SQL. Used VMS’ recursion properties to write a full-screen editor for VMS scripts in VMS...

Now, any “coding” is Excel or VBS scripts, generally...

[djf]

A decent Cobol programmer can write his own ticket now, and for the foreseeable future.

It’s still heavily used. And we’re not talking some nickel and dime mom and pop hardware store chain.

We’re talking Fortune 500 companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.

[Carriage Hill]

Heh; I wish I still remembered it. No I don’t; I’m retired now. Not going back, no way, no how.

[NCjim]

ALGOL anyone? :-)

[ken in texas]

ALGOL anyone? :-)

I knew someone would bring that up. That was the first language I learned back in 1970. Great for learning concepts, not so great for other things. Never played with JOVIAL.

[dfwgator]

Wonder why you would love C# and hate Java when both are quite similar in syntax...

One word.....Delegates.

[NCjim]

ALGOL’s mission in life was to describe algorithms. Pure ALGOL has no input/output statements. Its reserved words were in bold font - try that on your keypunch! :-) It was never meant to be compiled and run.

[ken in texas]

Then I guess I never worked with "Pure ALGOL", but I remember keypunch machines quite well.

One of the Junior year projects was to write a compiler in ALGOL, generating MIX code (Ref. Donald Knuth). After getting the punch card output back we ran it through the MIX interpreter to assess the results.

[P.O.E.]

Fortran 77.

Teaches you the basics, which are applicable throughout all other languages.

[X. OTerica]

I’m glad to see Pascal show up; I developed several real-time applications in that language. An even more elegant language was Modula-2; unfortunately it never really caught on except for some lively CompSci discussions!