Programming languages for web development
Sep 30, 2013 by Adrian
For more than 2 decades of web development, we have a staggering number of websites today, around 650 million in April 2013. In April 2008, the Internet contained only 165 million websites, so in 5 years 485 million websites have been created (~ 922 websites per hour!). But what are the programming languages that sustained this web development frenzy?
1. Client-side programming
JavaScript
JavaScript is used in many of the biggest websites (Google, Facebook, Yahoo), and its popularity is due to the fact that it's easy to learn, easy to code, and debugging is a breeze. Also, by using the Node.js software platform, web developers can create an entire application in JavaScript, both server-side and client-side, which is an awesome thing.
HTML5 and CSS3
Although HTML5 is relatively new, its popularity is increasing rapidly and the future of web development seems to be heading towards a HTML5 dominated Internet. I think that a big part of HTML5’s success is the support of major software companies, such as: Microsoft, Google, Apple, and even Adobe. Also, no one can deny the potential that this markup language has for web development, even though for the time being it has some limitations in terms of reliability, tools for graphical development etc.
Ajax
Ajax stands for "Asynchronous JAvaScript and XML" and is a group comprised of several web development techniques. One of the most important things about Ajax is that it can handle some events that will not disturb the normal flow of the website, which means that a lot can be done on the webpage, without refreshing it.
2. Server-side programming
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a server-side web application framework that is used to produce dynamic web pages. Developed by Microsoft, it was released in January 2002 as the successor of the ASP technology. Given the fact that is built on the Common Language Runtime, the web developers are able to code ASP.NET by using any supported .NET language.
Java
Java is one of the most popular object-oriented computer programming languages. By using Java, the web developer can run the code on any platform, without the need to recompile, and this allows for great flexibility and ease of use. Also, Java is easy to learn, code, compile and debug.
PHP
PHP is a server-side scripting language. It was created for web development, but also as a general-purpose programming language. It is one of the most used scripting languages in server-side programming, mainly because it is free, easy to learn and has built-in functionality for many typical tasks. Also, the PHP community is huge, so you'll be able to find solutions for almost any problem related to web development.
These are some of the most used programming languages for web development, if not the most used. Some are old in the business, some are new ones, and they all have strong points and weak points, so it’s up to the web developer to decide which of them is worth the time.
Which of these programming languages is worth your time?
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