A programming language is a set of standardized symbols for writing software programs in that field. It is also used in computer software engineering cycles to implement algorithms. There are many programming languages in use today, so how many programming languages should a software engineer know? Although these languages have similarities, each of them still has its own syntax. Let’s go through 15 latest programming languages for software engineers.
Table of Contents
1. Python
Python is considered the best programming language for software engineers. It is widely used in web applications, custom software development, data science, and machine learning (ML). Software engineers frequently use Python because it’s efficient, easy to learn, and can run on many different platforms. Python software is free to download, it integrates well with all types of systems and speeds up development.
The benefits of Python include:
- Engineers can easily read and understand a Python program because the language has the same basic syntax as English.
- Python improves the productivity of engineers because compared to other languages, they can use fewer lines of code to write a Python program.
- Python has a large standard library that contains many lines of reusable code for almost any task. As a result, engineers won’t need to write code from scratch.
- Engineers can easily use Python with other popular programming languages like Java, C, and C++.
- The active Python community includes millions of enthusiastic engineers around the world. If you run into problems, you’ll be able to get quick support from the community.
- There are many useful resources on the Internet if you want to learn Python. For example, you can easily find videos, tutorials, documentation, and guides.
- Python can be used on many different computer operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix.
Drawbacks: Although the processing speed of Python is faster than PHP, it is not equal to JAVA and C++.
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2. HTML and CSS
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a software engineer programming language designed to create web pages which are pieces of information presented on the World Wide Web.
Advantages of HTML:
- The language is widely used with lots of resources supporting it and a huge community behind it.
- Can work smoothly on almost any current browser.
- The process of learning HTML is quite simple.
- Open source and completely free.
- Markups used in HTML are usually concise and uniform.
- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) operates the main web standard.
- Easy to integrate with backend languages like PHP, Node.js,…
Disadvantages of HTML:
- This language is mainly applied to a static website. For dynamic features, you need to use JavaScript or a 3rd party backend language such as PHP.
- Users must create individual web pages for HTML, even if the elements are the same.
- Some browsers are slow to accept new features. Sometimes older browsers don’t always display the newer tags.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the definition of how an HTML document should be displayed. CSS is especially useful in Web design. It makes it easy for designers to apply the designed styles on any page of the website quickly and synchronously.
Advantages of CSS:
- The ability to save time
- CSS for fast page loading
- Easy to perform maintenance
- CSS has the wide property
- Good compatibility
- Disadvantages of CSS:
- CSS works differently for each browser
- This software engineering language is quite difficult for newbies
- The format of the web is potentially at risk
3. JavaScript
JavaScript is a popular programming language used to create interactive web pages. It is integrated and embedded in HTML to make the website come alive. JavaScript acts as part of the web page, and the executable allows Client-Side Scripts from both the user side as well as the server side (Nodejs) to generate dynamic web pages. It is an interpreted programming language with object-oriented capabilities, which is one of the 3 main languages in web programming interrelated to build a vibrant, professional website.
The advantages of using JavaScript are:
- Less server interaction – You can validate user input before sending the page to the server. This saves server traffic, which means less load on your server.
- Immediate response to visitors – They don’t have to wait for the page to reload to see if they forgot to enter something.
- Increase interactivity – You can create interfaces that react when the user hovers over them or activate them via the keyboard.
- Richer Appearance – You can use this software engineer language to include items like drag and drop elements to slide the Rich
- Appearance for your website visitors.
Limitations of JavaScript:
- The client-side does not allow reading or writing in the file. This has been kept for security reasons.
- Cannot be used for network applications because there is no such support.
- Doesn’t have any multithreading or multiprocessing capabilities
4. Java
Java is known as a high-level, object-oriented, and strong security language, it’s also defined as a Platform. Java was developed by Sun Microsystems, started by James Gosling that released in 1995. Java works on many platforms such as Windows, Mac, and different versions of UNIX. It is a purpose-built programming language, developed for distributed environments and software processes. The language is an independent platform, with no restrictions on any particular hardware or operating system. It provides users with the facility to be able to “write once, run anywhere”.
Advantages:
- Java is an independent platform.
- Java is an object-oriented software engineer language.
- The main reason for Java’s safety is Java doesn’t use pointers.
- Java can achieve multithreading.
- Java is powerful because it has many features like garbage collection, no pointers, and exception handling.
- Java is an easy-to-understand language.
- Efficient memory management is implemented using the Java Programming Language.
Defects:
- Poor performance, invalid caching configuration, and deadlock between processes.
- Java has very few SWT, GUI generators – Swing, JSF, and JavaFX.
- To write code to perform a simple set of operations, you may have to write long and complex pieces of code.
5. Ruby
Ruby is one of the most popular languages for creating web and mobile applications. This language is structured in the form of external orientation and allows programmers to change elements flexibly and easily. The Ruby language has the ability to minimize descriptions. At the same time, Ruby’s structure is also quite simple.
Advantages:
- Ruby is considered a fairly easy language to learn. Therefore, if you are proficient in Ruby, using the Ruby on Rails framework is not too strange anymore.
- The demand for using Ruby in programming-related work is increasing day by day. Mastering Ruby will help you have a good chance of landing good positions.
- Ruby’s ecosystem is growing and expanding, bringing many benefits to users.
- The software engineering language also has the ability to connect easily with MySQL, DB2, Sybase, and Oracle.
- You can also use the Ruby language to write external libraries.
- The security feature of this language is extremely high.
- Ruby’s implementation syntax as well as processing system is becoming more and more flexible and powerful.
- You can use this Ruby language on many different platforms.
- Users can also apply Ruby language in implementing HTML embedding.
- Ruby’s debugger is extremely large to help you minimize errors that can arise.
- This Ruby programming language is also an open-source language. So it’s completely free. However, you need a license if you want to use it.
Defects:
- Although the use of this type of language is said to be simple, the learning process can be difficult, especially in the setting environment.
Ruby’s syntax is biased towards freedom, so it’s inconsistent and difficult to manage. - Programmers can take a long time to read and understand Ruby code written by others. Therefore, it takes time to edit later.
- Ruby is a scripting language, so it runs slowly. Therefore, Ruby’s problem-solving time is still much slower than some other programming languages.
6. PHP
PHP stands for Personal Home Page which has now been converted to Hypertext Preprocessor; is one of the multi-purpose scripting software engineering languages. PHP is commonly used for developing server-side web applications. Thus, the PHP programming language can handle functions from the server side to generate HTML code on the client such as collecting form data, modifying the database, managing files on the server, or other operations.
Advantages:
- First of all, PHP is open source. So the installation and use of PHP language are very easy and the most popular installation is on popular WebSevers such as Nginx, and Apache.
- It’s a free source code and it’s shared a lot on forums so you can easily copy and install it using existing websites or contexts.
- PHP is easy to learn and easy to use, it has great flexibility for solving problems
- This is a language with the largest community today
- High-security capabilities with different security layers make the website’s operation more stable and secure.
Defects:
- Its language structure doesn’t look very neat.
- Unlike Java and C#, when you learn, you can make websites, mobile applications, programs, or software…, PHP can only be used as websites and extended website applications.
- The ability to copy and hack the code is easier and the security is not as high as other programming languages.
7. SQL
SQL stands for Structured Query Language which is a database query language. SQL can be considered as a common language in the list of programming languages for software engineers that any relational database system (RDBMS) must meet, typically: Oracle Database, SQL Server, and MySQL… SQL helps to effectively manage and access Information database queries faster, making information maintenance easier.
Advantages:
- Faster query processing
- No writing skills required
- Standardized language
- Extremely convenient
- SQL can be used in programs on PCs, servers, laptops, and its platform is independent.
- Interactive language
- Extremely easy to learn and easy to grasp
- View multiple formats of data
Disadvantages of SQL:
- Complex interface
- Cost: Some versions of SQL are quite expensive
- Only partial control: Due to many security rules in the enterprise, databases will not be fully controlled.
8. C
C is the world’s most popular programming language, which is simple and flexible to use. It is a structured independent programming language and is widely used to write applications, operating systems such as Windows, and many other complex programs such as Oracle database, Git, Python Interpreter, etc.
In addition, many programmers, when learning C programming, refer to C as the “mother language”. Because C is the basis and foundation for other languages, and if the programmer learns C programming well, other languages such as C++, C#, and Java can be easily conquered.
Advantages:
- High performance
- Flexibility:
– C can be used to write applications on 8bit microcontroller systems and can also be used for applications on 64bit systems, or supercomputers all that is needed is a suitable compiler.
– Ability to execute algorithms
– C also provides a standard library with hundreds of functional functions, math tools, and more.
– Logical syntax
Defects:
- The size of the array must be fixed
- The array allocation memory bytes are sequentially sorted
- Inserting and deleting elements of an array takes a long time
9. C++
C++ is an object-oriented software engineering language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup. It is developed on the foundation of the C programming language, so C++ has both programming styles like C. It is considered a “hybrid” language and a middle-level language because it has the properties of both low-level programming languages (Pascal, C…) and high-level programming languages (C#, Java, Python…).
C++ programming language has the extension .cpp
Advantages:
- C++ is an object-oriented programming language
- C++ allows comfortable memory management
- C++ is a low-level language that easily interfaces with hardware
- C++ has a high performance with the ability to consume fewer hardware resources
Defects:
- Memory overflow
- OOP in C++ is quite complicated and confusing
- Pointers are hard to use
10. C#
C Sharp (C#) is a powerful and versatile object-oriented programming language for software engineers that was developed by Microsoft in 2000. Microsoft develops C# based on C++ and Java and C Sharp is also considered a language that balances C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, and Java.
Outstanding advantages:
- Close to common programming languages such as C++, Java, and Pascal.
- Building on the foundation of strong programming languages should inherit their advantages.
- Improve the defects of C/C++ such as pointers, and side effects,…
- Easy to access, easy to develop.
- Backed by .NET Framework.
- The biggest disadvantage of C# is that it only runs on Windows and has the .NET Framework installed. Operation for hardware is weaker than in other languages, most have to rely on windows.
11. Swift
Swift is also an object-oriented language introduced by Apple. Swift is inspired by many other popular programming languages for software engineering such as Objective-C, Rust, Haskell, Ruby, Python, C#, and CLU. Swift is great for writing software, whether for phones, computers, servers… Swift is a fast, secure programming language; that combines the best of modern linguistic thinking with a broad technical background.
Strengths:
- It has the ability to quickly develop mobile applications
- When using Swift, programmers no longer have to spend a lot of time running compiler programs and test programs.
- Saves power as well as reduces wear on hardware.
- Swift language has easy-to-read, concise code
Weak points:
- The language is new and it can also be difficult for those who don’t have a basic background.
- Currently, the community and support of the Swift language are not really too much.
- Nowadays, application development is happening faster and faster and applications are integrated by many powerful frameworks. This causes many applications to become shoddy or can create garbage left by novice programmers.
12. Go
Go aka Golang is an open-source programming language for software engineers, designed by Google. Go has a syntax similar to C and of course, it is a compiled programming language. The syntax of the Golang programming language (syntax) is pretty neat, although there are actually some syntaxes that are really annoying to look at for beginners.
Advantages:
- Simplicity makes it easy for newbies to learn, making the written code very clear and easy to read.
- Go also has similarities with languages like C, C++, C#
- Standard library available
- High security
- The documentation is clear and easy to read
Disadvantages:
- Too simple
- Go may be an easy language to pick up, but that brings with it a lack of flexibility.
- Go is still a young language so it hasn’t really found a foothold yet
- Does not support the GUI library
13. Perl
Perl stands for “Practical Extraction and Reporting Language”. It combines the features of languages like C++ with shell scripts with the ability to execute large scripts. It also has elements of awk and sed, mostly used in command-line scripting for text manipulation. Programmers can use Perl to develop many software applications.
Advantages:
- Bringing many conveniences to programmers when it comes to specific objects, functions, and other related procedures.
- Extended use support when owning more than 25,000 available open modules are all stored in CPAN.
- Unicode support.
- Ability to make database integration easier.
- Support linking, and connecting Perl programming language interfaces with C or C++.
- Acts as an open source and is fully licensed.
- Perl’s interpreter can be made embedded in other systems such as web servers.
Defects:
- Perl does not support portability for CPAN modules
- The program runs slow
- The codes are messed up
- Lower availability factor compared to other programming languages for software engineers
14. LISP
Lisp is a programming language that was developed very early (1958). Lisp, short for List Processing, has a basic data structure that is linked lists. Lisp is known as one of the typical functional programming languages, although sometimes Lisp programs are written procedurally. Formally, Lisp’s command syntax is very special with parentheses and prefix notation.
15. MATLAB
MATLAB is a programming language for software engineering which was developed by MathWorks that allows users to build matrices, graph functions, or data graphs, perform mathematical operations, create user interfaces, and link machine programs. Computers written in various languages, including C, C++, Java, and FORTRAN, analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models and applications. MATLAB is packed with mathematical commands and functions that help users perform numerical calculations, plot graphs, and perform numerical methods.
Summary
Programming languages for software engineers are prerequisite and necessary elements for software processing. It;s hard to identify which programming language is best for software engineering. Depending on the types of software programs and specific needs, choose the optimal language to ensure the efficiency of the software engineering cycle.
