App development is an exciting and lucrative field, and it will continue to be so. A software developer that is able to work with the right languages to deliver innovative apps that meet customer needs has the opportunity to do everything from work for the biggest and most successful companies in the world, right through to launching a startup to build their own fortunes.

The question is, what are the best languages? There are many different coding languages these days (700, in fact), and because none of them are perfect, two similar projects might be using very different coding languages.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you need to go out and learn all 700 different coding languages. Rather, focusing in on a few of the most common ones will give you the foundations that you need to be an excellent software developer. Then, if a specific project does call for a more unusual language, you can always undertake further training to learn it. With the right training and assessment tools, learning coding languages isn’t an onerous task, and anyone with an interest in software development can get started very easily.

With that in mind, here are some of the most common programming languages that every software developer will want to familiarise themselves with.

Swift

If you’re developing applications for Apple products, then Swift is essential. Given that Apple remains a dominant force in the apps space, Swift, by extension, is also a dominant language. Swift has a number of useful advantages, beyond being “the language for Apple app development.” It is efficient, and requires fewer lines of code than most other languages. It also has a syntax that is similar enough to Java, C++, and Python, making it straightforward to learn for people who are familiar with those incumbent coding languages.

It's also incredibly well-featured, with type interface, generics, closures, and fast compile times, and these make it fast and easy to code for. Speaking of the compiler, it’s a powerful one, allowing you to catch errors very quickly during the process of compilation, rather than needing to run the code to find errors. For developers, this means drastically reduced bug-squashing delays in the later stages of the app design process.

However, there are downsides to Swift. One is that it is a famously complex language, and while it has a similar syntax to other languages, the process of learning Swift can take longer. It’s also a verbose language and, because it was designed to read like English, non-native speakers can have an even tougher time with it.

Finally, and this almost goes without saying, but Swift is locked to the Apple platforms, meaning that you lock yourself out of Android devices if you code an app using this language.

Java

Beloved old favourite, Java, has been kicking around since 1995 and is still going strong. In fact, today it’s arguably the default app language for programming for Android. The main reason for its enduring popularity is that it is such a versatile, general-purpose language, and in coding, flexibility like that is highly valued. It’s also easy to work with as it can run on any system with a Java Virtual Machine, and because it’s object-orientated, it tends to be pretty straightforward to code with too.

Java is also a rare language that works equally well for developing across both Android and iOS, making it a popular choice for projects that are intended to launch across both platforms.

On the downside, Java programs can become bloated and therefore run slowly. It’s also a labour-intensive language to work with, because it requires a lot of lines of code for even simple tasks, resulting in a greater capacity for error. This also means that debugging code can be a more time-consuming tasks.

C++

Another massively popular language, and one of the oldest in continual use. C++ has been around for over 40 years, and is such a standard example of a language that it’s often the first one that coding students will learn.

Another reason that it’s a popular learning tool is that it’s quite easy to find bugs in the code and develop quickly. A student can be given an assignment, build an application, and submit it with maximum efficiency while still going through all the normal processes of coding.

It’s also a language that supports both object-orientated and procedural programming styles… and coders can even switch between the two depending on their needs. This is a highly valued flexible feature, and one of the reasons that one of the main uses of C++ outside of education is in game development. If your application is a game, the chances are you’ll be coding it in C++.

Ironically, given that most student coders will be exposed to C++ at some stage through their education, one of the biggest problems with the language is finding developers that know it to a professional level. One of the reasons enterprise software development companies recruit so many game developers is because of that C++ expertise. The other big problem with the language is that it is limited. Not all Web browsers support it, so it’s not a good language for Web app development, and it requires a lot of RAM in the system, meaning that older devices are often incompatible.

C

C# is to Microsoft what Swift is to Apple. It’s a slightly less useful language for modern app developers, given that Windows phones are no longer a thing, but nonetheless, Microsoft is a giant in the software space, and whether you’re working within Microsoft’s ecosystem, or developing games for the Xbox One, C# is a useful language to be aware of.

C# is a general-purpose object-orientated programming language, and yes it is a “successor” to C++, hence the similar name. C#’s benefits are numerous – it supports multiple languages, has support for libraries of code that are written in other languages, including C++ and Visual Basic, and has excellent multi-tasking and multi-threating capabilities.

On the downside, however, it’s just not that popular. While no one said that you need to use a popular language to code your apps, community support is a big deal in software development, and the relatively sparce communities for C# mean that you might struggle to find information and solutions if you have a problem, while the developers working on a Java application, for example, have libraries of community support to draw on.

Python

Python is another one of those “my first programming language” types of languages. It is enormously popular in education because it’s very easy to both read and learn, so it’s an ideal solution for a classroom full of students, who have different levels of technical understanding.

That’s not to say Python isn’t a serious language in professional settings, though. It’s actually very popular, with a huge number of libraries that can help app developers with their work. These libraries include: Xcode (for iOS), Interface Builder (for Android), REST API, WebSocket API, SQLite 3.

Python is also a language that is interpreted rather than compiled, meaning that it’s so much quicker to develop with Python than other applications. Cheaper, too, given that compilers can be expensive, and with Python, that step in the process is free.

As an additional benefit, and a direct contrast to C# above, Python has a vibrant community, so it’s relatively easy to get advice or help when you’ve run into problems while working on it.

The main downside to Python is a pretty simple one, but also one that makes it completely inappropriate for a lot of projects: There’s a cap on how large a project can be with Python. For small little applications, you can build quickly and easily, but for a larger project, you’re going to need a language like Java or C++.

JavaScript

If you’re interested in developing applications for the Web, then you’re going to want to know JavaScript. For many years now, as far back as Netscape Communications (remember Netscape?), JavaScript has been a standard language for Web development. Developed initially as a language that would allow programmers to reuse code that had already been written, JavaScript has evolved into a solution that allows coders to focus more on the design of the app than writing code from scratch.

Though it has been around for many years at this point, one of the key benefits of JavaScript is that it is newer than other languages, meaning that it is more adapted to modern computing. It also supports all the major browsers, as you might expect from the “for the Web” coding language. Another benefit is that because it is a high-level, interpreted language, it’s easier for people with no coding experience to learn.

On the downside, it’s not a compiled programming language, meaning that its’ not as easy to update and change.

Dart

One final language to consider is Dart. Dart’s very much a “new kid on the block” having been around for just a decade, but was developed by Google as a general-purpose programming language that would be fast and efficient.

Dart uses similar syntax as C++, meaning it’s easy for developers to move from one to the other, and is ideal for both native apps and cross-platform mobile development.

It’s also the language that powers Flutter, Google’s incredibly easy-to-use UI software development kit that can make application development much easier, including for people with limited coding expertise. By mastering Dart, not only can you make use of Flutter, but you can push it to its limits and really take full advantage of the depth of the system.

As a final benefit, you can trans compile Dart coding into JavaScript, making it easy to continue to work with the application, and can be used for both client-side and server-side Web development, helping to minimize compatibility challenges.

On the downside, the backend (i.e. API/Server) focus is currently low, and you will probably need to write many subs and generic domain packages. You also need to contend with the fact that as a newer language, there isn’t as much information out there about Dart. There’s an active and helpful community that has formed around the language, but it is still building up its body of information for coders.

These are just seven of the languages that are commonly seen in application development, and run the gamut from being highly accessible to coding newcomers, right through to the kind of complex applications that power some of the most compelling and popular apps. The best way to get started is… to simply get started. Choose one of the languages and focus on learning it first. You’ll find that as the syntax and approach to coding that language becomes clear, you’ll start to be able to pick up the other coding languages more quickly.