5 New Programming Languages: Discover Them to Gain New Skills

To advance your career as a professional developer, it is crucial that you learn new programming languages on a regular basis. In this blog post, we will explore the top five latest ones that have begun to gain footing in the IT industry. Before going ahead to look at them, it’s important to have a little bit of background information about programming languages in general.

According to the TIOBE Index, the most popular programming languages are those that even the newest developers in the industry know about. Among these are Java (being the number one), C, C++, and, of course, Python. These are the four most popular languages in the world of programming. There is also JavaScript, which occupies the eighth position among the top ten. Learning some of the top ten languages is a great way to enhance your employability and competitive edge in the industry.

However, there are many other new programming languages that are currently making waves in the IT realm. Although they are not as popular as the aforementioned, learning one of them may be a great advantage for you in the near future. On the one hand, they may expose you to new programming paradigms and expand your holistic understanding of what programming is all about. While, on the other hand, they can help you gain mastery of cutting edge platforms that have the potential to position you as a thought leader in an underserved and lucrative market space. In addition to this, learning a new language is definitely exciting.

So, what are these newest programming languages in the IT industry?

1. Kotlin

Kotlin is a type of statically object-oriented language (OOL) that offers excellent integration with the current Java code. It’s important to mention that it runs on the Java Virtual Machine, and although it’s mainly an OOL, this language also has some functional characteristics such as lambdas and higher-order functions. It’s essential to note that Kotlin was unequivocally designed to offer a less verbose and safer options to Java without making the developers give up the advantages associated with the Java ecosystem. Currently, this language is being utilized in production by a lot of big corporations such as Evernote and Uber.

Essentially, it is one of the two languages that are officially supported by Android. This makes it an excellent option for those mobile developers who want to explore other options than Java. Additionally, it can be trans-piled to JavaScript, making it highly practical if you want to use the same language on the server, in mobile apps, and the browser.

2. Elixir

This is a highly functional programming language developed by Rubyist that needed a friendly and functional language. Elixir runs on the Erlang’s BEAM virtual machine, and it’s a type of dynamic language that has everything you would anticipate from the one definitely rooted in the functional paradigm – first-class functions, macros, immutable data, and pattern matching. Elixir has many exciting things going for it in terms of concurrency and performance as a result of its relationship with Erlang, OPT, and BEAM. This is a system designed to function on highly concurrent crucial telecommunication infrastructure. The organizations using this programming language include Lonely Planet, Moz, and Pinterest.

3. Crystal

Crystal is also one of the newest programming languages worth paying attention to. It has been illustrated as the one that offers the same speed as C and the ease of writing of Ruby. It’s a type of OOL featuring a syntax heavily impacted by Ruby. However, unlike Ruby, Crystal is a type of statically compiled language. Despite the fact that it is statically typed, it still utilizes a complex global type interference system to circumvent the typical boilerplate that comes with a static language. Crystal offers the same simplicity and fun in writing just like higher-level scripting Python and Ruby, while maintaining the speed of more technical C++ and C.

4. Scala

This is a multi-paradigm programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine like Kotlin. However, while the aim of the latter is to be a better version of Java, Scala features an entirely different language, which is quite clear in its implementation of the characteristics of functional programming. Each function of Scala is value-driven with currying supported. In addition, its syntax is lightweight for anonymous functions, and it supports pattern matching like Elixir. However, it is statically typed with the expressive and powerful type system, which is totally different from Elixir. For those professionals who want to retain their interest in the Java ecosystem, and at the same time adopt a more functional approach, Scala will be an excellent programming language to explore.

5. Rust

Rust is also a type of statically system programming language designed to perform the same function as C and C++. One major difference between these two languages and Rust is memory safety. In addition to being as fast as C, it offers the developers protection against the problems that arise from buffer overflows, dangling pointers, as well as other memory errors. It’s important to mention that Rust was developed by one of the developers at Mozilla. Also, Mozilla sponsors this language and uses it to develop Servo, a browser engine that is currently in its experimental stage. The memory safety of Rust expands to concurrency with a powerful type system, message passing, threads, and a new data ownership model.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, there are numerous new programming languages that the developers may be privy to and are not listed in this post. As a matter of fact, there may be many that you are familiar with and even working with but that have not been mentioned. However, the top five programming languages highlighted here embody an excellent mix of object-oriented, functional, static, and dynamic typing. Each of these languages has an active community of users. With time, some will move to the mainstream, and it will be fascinating to see the specific ones that made it to the renowned TIOBE Index within the next couple of years.