Reviewing the Top 3 Programming Languages for Web Development in 2021

In 2008, literally, everyone was fine with waiting for 5 to 10 seconds for the website to load.

In 2021, a waiting time this long would cost businesses in excess of $2.6 billion. 

Well, if that’s not a significant transition, then what is? 

And things get even more intriguing when you learn that a user judges the website in under 0.05 seconds.

Wait! Even that’s not it. In May this year, Google is coming up with the Core Web Vitals update, which will be a notable step forward in assessing the UI/UX appeal of the website. 

Simply put, the search engine will now quantify the previously subjective aspects — a facet of the upcoming best practices that you just can’t ignore.

Amidst all these advancements, what’s the one thing or perhaps the one solution that can help you leverage growth opportunities? 

Well, who am I kidding? There’s no one thing to dominate the utterly dynamic search engine, to be honest. However, there is one thing that can certainly lay out the platform for collective domination — a competent programming language. 

A Review of the Best Web Programming Languages in 2021

NOTE: Just so you know, we won’t be talking about HTML and CSS here, for they are markup languages for structuring digital media and cannot (should not) be classified as core programming languages. Their importance to web development, however, can’t be overlooked. 

Have you ever scrolled through Facebook or Instagram, for that matter? What’s the best thing about these social media platforms apart from their business model? Well, it’s the interactional smoothness that they facilitate. How do they do that? Precisely by employing optimized scripts of feasible coding languages. 

1. Java

Java has been omnipresent in the developing industry for the past two decades thanks to its simple syntax, secured environment, platform independency, automatic memory management, and much more.

Websites like Udemy and Swiss FX trading run on platforms constructed out of Java, thus, justifying that this language has never been out of fashion. 

Strengths 

1. Java is extensible and allows scaling capability for your website. 
2. It expedites code portability making it a go-to option for developers.
3. The Java community consistently embraces additions such as Play! and Stripes that are useful for enhancing the overall development game.

Weaknesses

1. Development time is relatively higher owing to the lengthy procedural requirements.
2. Java entails significant memory space and might not be affordable at a reasonable price.

2. PHP

The question “Is PHP dead” often floods the Internet. However, the fact that almost 80% of the total websites still prefer PHP can’t be overlooked. 

The newest PHP 7.4 version is highly optimized both for mobile and desktop. Even 7.3 has been superb in terms of performance. What’s astonishing is that only 13.1% of the WordPress powered websites use PHP. More than 64% are running on versions older than PHP 7.1

Well, you can’t blame the language, can you?

Strengths 

1. PHP allows for the addition of services as and when required—no more hassle regarding the website’s scaling. 
2. The biggest advantage is that it delivers high-performance through the facilitation of reduced loading time. 
3. It’s best for developers with regards to the “absolutely no limits” on custom options.

Weaknesses

1. The open-source facility can, at times, prove to be a loophole in the otherwise secured environment.
2. The dedicated libraries provided by PHP are not ideally suited for modern-day web development needs. 

3. Python

As of March 2021, Python is the most popular language in the world, with Java as a distant second. 

And to add to the perspective, companies like Instagram and Spotify employ Python for driving their social media platforms. 

Strengths

1. Python makes it easy for developers thanks to the profound frameworks, including Django, Pyramid, Flask etc., which immensely contribute to web development.
2. Python is the best when it comes to dynamic semantic capabilities, something that sources from the high-level of interactivity that the language allows for. 
3. There are absolutely no deadlocks, thanks to straightforward coding. 

Weaknesses

1. Python is, at times, lacking in speed, which makes it inconsistent for a website’s ranking on the search engine.
2. There are restrictions on web design due to the overwhelming dynamism.

Why Should I Adhere to Custom Web Development Instead of Online Website Builders?

You’ve possibly heard about the automation facilitated by online website builders and the free themes that they promote. It’s all rosy, and in all honesty, they are good — as long as you’re not into scaling your business as per your preferences.

Get the sense? Ummm… Let’s do the math. Assume that there are 100 themes available for you to choose from and more than 150,000 businesses operate on this website builder. 

Let’s ignore the irregularities associated with the random choice and assume that all themes are picked equally — 150 businesses using the same theme, to be precise. 

In short, there’s no room for your uniqueness even if you’re not concerned so much about the scaling factor. 

As far as Custom Web Development is concerned using one of the aforementioned languages, every decision from a minute tweaking of the micro-interaction lies with you — and that’s great, isn’t it?