Since the turn of the century, technological advancements have come in leaps and bounds in many areas, including communications. The internet in particular, has been a significant catalyst which has transformed the communications space. Almost everyone has a smartphone, and with the proliferation of mobile applications or apps, communication has become diverse.
Mobile Apps Overview
Mobile apps have become the fundamental way of human interactions, and we simply cannot do without them. In simple terms, a mobile app is a computer program that is specifically designed to be run on a mobile device, such as a phone, tablet or even a watch.
Unlike the software systems that run on desktops or computers which are usually integrated to perform multiple functions, mobile apps run limited and often narrow functions and are restricted to just one task. Examples of such basic apps include calculators and browsers, and such programming language is quite different from desktop run applications.
Programming Language
A programming language is just like any other recognized language which has governing components and rules. A programming language, however, is primarily used to communicate with and set tasks for computers. Computers operate in a binary mode, which means they can only understand 1’s and 0’s.
A programming language is simply converting more regular language into binary codes that the computers can understand and interpret. So, in essence, programming languages bridges the divide between computers and humans by using symbols and codes that computers can understand in their binary language.
10 Most Popular Programming Languages For Mobile Apps
Python
Developed in the late 1980s by CWI in Holland and made public in 1991, Python is a programming language that allows you to integrate systems as a scripting or glue language swiftly. It is an advanced language that is object-oriented and is based on malleable and strong semantics. It is easy to read and learn
Java
Developed originally as Oak by Sun Microsystems in 1990, it was made available to the public in 1995 and is currently owned by Oracle. It is a high-level programming language and can be used for just about anything.
Ruby
Yukihiro Matsumoto designed this in 1995, and he described it as “simple in appearance but is very complex inside, just like our human body.” It is an object-oriented, open-sourced and general-purpose programming language. It is mostly used for simulations and 3D modeling.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
Tim Berners-Lee originally created this programming language in 1990 to allow online document sharing between scientists. HTML first made possible what is known as rich text or in lay man’s terms the ability to send images as well as text formatting. HTML in some form is seen on almost every page you view on the internet.
JavaScript
Designed by Netscape in 1995 and formerly known as LiveScript, JavaScript is a programming language that works on a client browser. It is not server-based, but rather processes command directly from a computer. It is used heavily in web development and is employed to make page elements more dynamic.
C++
This general-purpose, mid-level program was made public in 1983 and is often touted as an object-oriented version of C language. It was fashioned to compile lean, efficient code as well as provide high-level concepts. It can also be used to create office applications, games and other computer programs.
Objective-C
This programming language was birthed at Apple in 1983 to cater to the seeming deficiencies in C language, particularly to address the lack of object-orientation. It is a general-purpose and object-oriented language with traces of Smalltalk. Objects in Objective-C may ignore or forward to another object when they receive messages.
PHP (HyperText Preprocessor)
This open-source, general-purpose programming language released in 1995, was intended to create dynamic web pages that could work seamlessly with databases. It is employed often in data-heavy websites for form data collection. It can also be used to develop dynamic content in app development.
Swift
Swift was showcased at Apple’s 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference. It is an open-source, multi-paradigm language that is used in the creation of iOS and OS X apps. It is object-oriented and comes with a compiler and debugger.
C#
This a contemporary object-oriented programming language created in 2000 by Anders Hejlsberg at Microsoft. It is considered the direct rival to Objective-C in many circles as Apple and Microsoft continue to dominate. It has also had quite the same level of success as Objective-C.
Different Levels of Programming Languages
There are primarily two levels of programming languages for mobile apps; high level and low-level programming languages. A low-level programming language is quite similar to the binary code that computers understand readily and is usually more specific about computer behavior and response. High-level programming language uses fewer codes and more familiar words, making it more understandable for humans. This makes it easier to write, but that means the computers take a bit longer to process it into binary code.
Currently, there are over a hundred different programming languages for mobile apps each with its own unique traits, peculiarities and structure, yet they have basic similarities as well. Programmers have often been faced with deciding which is the best programming language for mobile apps. However, the answer always lies in what the mobile app seeks to achieve as its functions will make one programming language more suitable than another.
These programming languages for mobile apps are by no means set in stone, just as in human languages, programming languages for mobile apps will keep evolving. These ten, however, are probably the best programming languages for mobile apps at the moment.