5 Programming Languages of the Future

Today’s technology is driven by programming languages built by geniuses searching for a better way. Developers rely on languages like JavaScript and Python because these languages are proven to be powerful and flexible tools, capable of creating countless applications serving countless needs. But as our reliance on technology increases and we imagine new solutions for once-insurmountable challenges, new programming languages must offer specialized capabilities that are form-fit for the future. 

There’s no real way to predict what coding languages developers will be using 50 years from now. But by looking at the rising stars and newcomers of today’s development scene, we can identify programming languages that are poised to play a significant role in the near future of coding. Here’s our list of five  programming languages that offer a prophetic look ahead at the coding industry of tomorrow. 

Go

• Creator(s): Google
• Purpose: Simple server farm management
• Website

A small team at Google was brought together in 2007 by their shared dissatisfaction with the C++ language. As Google continued to expand, constantly adding new server farms with immense codebases, the designers sought a way to take what worked about some of the most common languages used at Google and cut out what didn’t. They married the efficiency of C++ with the readability and usability of languages like JavaScript, and created Go, a language designed to be simple enough that a single programmer could hold it all in their head. 

Best for simple web apps, servers, and APIs, Go thrives when used to create programs that run on multiple machines that all need access to the same set of data. With the Internet of Thins continually expanding to define the future, this functionality is growing more important all the time. 

CUDA

• Creator(s): NVIDIA
• Purpose: Unlocking video card power
• Website

Though graphics cards produced by companies like NVIDIA are most often thought of in the PC gaming realm, these pieces of hardware hold an incredible level of potential. The same computing power needed to render modern, graphics-intensive video games could go a long way towards other types of simulations and scientific modeling—if properly harnessed.

Enter CUDA, a language developed by NVIDIA that leverages the parallel processing power of video cards to simultaneously process multiple elements of complicated algorithms at the same time. Though parsing your own code to find these parallel structures can be a challenge, doing so can be hugely rewarding for anybody looking to mine cryptocurrency or simulate complex pharmaceutical formulations.

Solidity

• Creator(s): Ethereum Project
• Purpose: Blockchain development
• Website

A few short years ago, cryptocurrency became such a sensation that startups began eschewing the traditional initial public offering (IPO) in favor of an ICO, an initial coin offering. At the time, the prospect of a company developing its own cryptocurrency and using it to fund their early growth seemed promising—even if ICOs have become increasingly uncommon ever since. This mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency created a need for a reliable programming language designed specifically for blockchain development. Enter Solidity, which was developed by the Ethereum Project for projects like cryptocurrency creation, complex smart contracts, and decentralized applications that rely on blockchain concepts. If and when cryptocurrency becomes integrated into the daily financial lives of more of the population, this language could be an important tool of innovation. 

R

• Creator(s): Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka
• Purpose: Easier statistics-driven data science
• Website

Statistics can be a powerful tool for those who know how to use it. Think about the sheer volume of information created and used by big data applications today. It makes sense that somewhere along the way, data scientists and statisticians realized that widely used statistical models could be a boon for efficiently processing large amounts of data. R was created to serve exactly that purpose. Built with free libraries that incorporate all of the most commonly-used statistical models, R is empowering data scientists to leverage classic statistics know-how in their data science applications. As big data continues to promise increasing returns for businesses ready to leverage it, R is positioned to help make it easier for teams from any industry to make practical use of the data they already have.

Arduino API

• Creators: Arduino
• Purpose: Internet of things programming
• Website

When you hear the word “Arduino,” you may primarily think of hardware, not software. The open-source company has become synonymous with do-it-yourself smart device construction thanks to their simple microcontroller boards and kits that can be adapted to drive anything from homebrewed video game consoles to drones, simple computers, automotive diagnostic computers, and MIDI audio controllers. Though Arduino devices utilize C and C++ for programming, Arduino has created an API specifically for their hardware that serves as a compiler, allowing developers to choose from a standard set of C and C++ functions and string them together to produce working code. As the Internet of Things continues to expand its real-world footprint, this specialized smart device API will play an increasingly significant role.

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