You should definitely learn these programming languages ​​in 2021

December 11th, 2020, 7:00 a.m.

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Long-established languages ​​such as Java, C or JavaScript are usually the right choice for beginners. But are they still trend-setting? These are the players of tomorrow that you should really learn in 2021.

New programming languages ​​are becoming more and more important. Some of them are growing at high speed and are also appearing more and more frequently in job advertisements. Depending on whether you develop for the web, backend or smartphones – there are new programming languages ​​almost everywhere that you should take a closer look at.

You should learn these programming languages ​​in 2021

Languages ​​such as JavaScript, Python, C ++ or Java still top the list of the most widely used programming languages. But how much longer? Are the languages ​​of the last century really still modern enough? Some new programming languages ​​are really tough and worth learning.

Web development: TypeScript

In web development, there have always been the same languages ​​that you should be able to use for years. If you want to develop in this segment, you can’t actually avoid JavaScript. Anyone who knows JavaScript is definitely in a good position. Since 2012 there is a new player from Microsoft: TypeScript. In contrast to JavaScript, TypeScript is statically typed and gives you more control over your own code.

But don’t worry! Those who master JavaScript will also be able to quickly familiarize themselves with TypeScript. Because TypeScript understands JavaScript and vice versa. You can continue to use the many libraries and frameworks or other existing JavaScript code with TypeScript without any problems. Also important: In the end, TypeScript is transpiled into JavaScript so that TypeScript is compatible with just as many browsers. Getting involved with TypeScript is also worthwhile because well-known frameworks and libraries such as Angular or React and, for some time now, Svelte have been relying on the language. If you master it, it can make your development processes faster and lead to more readable code. Many developers who have come into contact with TypeScript do not want to go back to their big brother JavaScript.

Darts

Dart is an ECMA-standardized programming language from Google, the developers of which had intended to use it in web browsers. The still young language should be a modern alternative to JavaScript that overcomes some of the problems of the long-established language of the web. In the stackoverflow ranking of the most popular technologies in 2021, Dart is in 7th place behind Julia. This is not so surprising, the dart-based UI toolkit Flutter for the platform-agnostic development of user interfaces saw a further increase in Contributor in 2021.

Python for data science and automation

Although Python has a few more years under its belt and dates back to the 1990s, the language, which relies on a tight programming style, is growing steadily and this year has once again established itself as the second most popular language, ahead of Java. In the Stackoverflow list of the Most Wanted Programming Languages, Python even took the top spot in 2021. A big advantage of Python is the platform independence: It runs on almost all operating systems. You can use it to program object-oriented or procedurally. In areas like data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, you can’t avoid Python. Overall, however, the language can be used almost universally. With the appropriate tools, user interfaces are even possible. Python is also easy to learn and has many libraries.

Android: Kotlin is incredibly popular

In May 2017, Google declared Kotlin to be the official Android programming language alongside Java. Since then, the language from the Jetbrains house has apparently grown inexorably. The language is incredibly popular and continues to be # 4 of the fastest growing programming languages ​​on GitHub. It has many advantages over Java and makes switching from applications with Java Codebase easy. Thanks to the interoperability, you can rewrite your project bit by bit in Kotlin.

Why Kotlin instead of Java? Kotlin is only a few years old and therefore has many modern features on board that have only gradually been added to Java, more badly than right. Due to the zero security, very simple syntax for Lambda functions and language constructs, which significantly reduce the code compared to Java, Kotlin is definitely one of the must-haves for Android. Anyone writing a new project should rely on Kotlin if possible. Also because Jetbrains is working on features for multi-platform projects with Kotlin. So you can write native apps for Android and iOS.

iOS: Swift instead of Objective-C

If you’re still developing iOS apps with Objective-C, it’s time to learn Swift. The language was introduced in 2014 and is considered a modern alternative to Objective-C for iOS and macOS. It has many similarities to Kotlin and at least as many advantages over Objective-C as Jetbrains’ language has over Java. Swift makes it much easier to develop apps for iPhones and Co., which is why Apple developers should have looked at the language more closely since 2014. If you still haven’t done that, you should definitely write “Learn Swift” on your list of resolutions for 2021.

Go from Google for cloud computing

The open source programming language Go was developed by Google out of dissatisfaction with Java and C ++. It is particularly relevant for cloud computing. The focus of Go is clearly on efficiency and productive development. In order not to endanger existing code, Go should remain compatible with the first version in later versions. Those who master Go can save time, but familiarization is quite time-consuming and tedious.

Rust: Reliable, performant and productive

These are the words Mozilla uses to advertise its Rust programming language, which was announced in 2010. In 2021, Rust continues to top the list of the most popular programming languages, a long way from the second most popular language, TypeScript. Rust relies on static typing and wants to prevent null pointer and stack overflow errors as far as possible at runtime. Rust positions itself between low-level languages ​​like C and higher languages ​​like Java. By combining different programming paradigms, the programming language allows a high level of abstraction and relies on a typing system that is common for functional languages ​​instead of a garbage collector for memory management. The language can be used for CLI tools, web assembly and network services, among other things.

Rust is an alternative for C and C ++ that aims to eliminate many dangers and errors at runtime. Since Rust is still relatively young, tools and libraries are still lacking in some places. However, with the announcement by AWS that it intends to become more involved in the further development of the increasingly popular programming language in the future, this could change soon.

Speaking of web assembly: Web developers who have recognized the advantages of web assembly, but who have so far been reluctant to learn a low-level language like Rust or C in addition to JavaScript, due to the very large differences AssemblyScript keep an eye. AssemblyScript is a type of TypeScript that produces web assembly binaries. The open source project, which is still in the beta phase, aims to provide TypeScript-enabled web developers with a tool that will make it easier for them to get started with web assembly.

Read more on the topic: Why are Kotlin, TypeScript and Rust so trendy? The tendency is towards more control and fewer errors.

This article dates back to 2018 and was updated on December 10, 2020. The author of the revision is Kathrin Stoll.

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