Although there’s a huge range of languages used to write software, the lion’s share of programs is written using just a few popular ones. Many of these languages are designed for specific functions, so their capabilities are limited. Others can be used for just about any kind of programming, but they contain features that make them better suited to some tasks over others. Here’s a quick look at some of the most popular coding languages:
- Hypertext Markup Language
- Cascading Style Sheets
- JavaScript
- Java
- PHP
Hypertext Markup Language
Commonly known as HTML, this language has limited capability and is only used to produce the basic components of a website. The language relies on lines of code called tags. These tags contain things like the actual text along with links to audio and video files, commands for activating JavaScript programs, and general descriptions of where various components should be placed on the screen.
HTML coding uses a series of tags throughout the code to distinguish headers, paragraphs, lists, and more.
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets or CSS is used as an enhancement for HTML. This coding provides various aesthetic features like fonts and colors for multiple HTML pages. For instance, if you decide to add extra HTML pages to a website or alter existing ones, CSS ensures they’ll possess the same appearance without having to add this information to each HTML document. CSS also allows web content to be adjusted for different devices like desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones.
JavaScript
If you’re on a weather website and temperature readings are automatically updated or a dialog box appears for choosing new locations, this is a JavaScript program at work. JavaScript is a fully functional programming language designed to operate within HTML documents. JavaScript is an interpretive language. This means that each line of code is read by a software device called an interpreter and put to work before the next line is read. With JavaScript, the interpreter is built into all of today’s major browsers so the program can be used on the spot.
JavaScript is designed work within HTML documents.
Java
Before Javascript, this full-capacity programming language was used to make websites interactive. Java is unusual among languages in that, while it’s compiled, the compiled code isn’t directly understood by computer processors so it can’t gain intimate access to it. This code, known as byte code, can only be turned into meaningful actions by a special piece of software called the Java Virtual Machine. This arrangement provides a very formidable layer of security. Due to this quality, Java is employed as the primary language for writing Android smartphone apps.
PHP
Even though JavaScript is used to carry out complex tasks on a website itself, there still must be a program to deliver the HTML code to individual computers and handle returned information, like merchandise orders. This is where PHP comes in. There are several languages used by servers, but PHP has become the favorite choice in recent years because of special features in the language geared towards working with HTML code.