Programming languages are the fuel that makes information
technology function. While many advances
in technology come from the semiconductor sector, just as many are attributable
to advances in the way instructions are coded into machines, that is, via
programming languages.
While machine and assembly
language have not evolved much over the years, the higher-level programming
languages have. Several factors have
played into the evolution and adoption of programming languages, including new
technology that required faster development.
In the past, computer scientists were computer programmers, so the
programming languages were complicated to learn and susceptible to errors. After creating the BASIC programming
language, computer programming became accessible to a much wider audience,
which in turn created a demand for more efficient ways to program
computers. Another big driver in the
evolution of programming languages was the transition from text-based outputs
to windows based displays, which made great use of object-oriented programming.
Today,
while high-level programming languages still rule the domain, scripted
languages dominate the world wide web.
In particular, JavaScript today is considered the most popular
programming language and is used on most sites across the web in some form or
another. JavaScript is an interpreted
language, which relies on another program to interpret the code and convert it
to assembly language for the operating system to understand and execute
commands. In the past, interpreted
languages ran slow, which led to many programmers focusing on compiled languages
instead. Still, with today’s availability of faster processors and large
amounts of memory and storage, the speed of scripted or interpreted languages
is rarely noticeable. That said, C and C++
will always be relied upon when needing fast execution speed and access down to
the hardware level.
Application
software has mainly existed as installed apps on a client or end-user computer
or device; however, with the advent of the web and new applications as a
service, many of the applications are being ported to the web such that users
can use these new online tools for content creation available to them via a web
application. Many of these web applications
now use JavaScript and HTML in addition to the traditional C++ language, previously
used for the client-installed applications.
Programming
languages have also played a central role in database management. Starting with SQL (Structured Query Language),
programmers have accessed and manipulated databases very efficiently. SQL was written in the 1970s by IBM to modify
and access data in IBM’s first relational database management system known as “R.”
Years later, Oracle developed its version of SQL. Today, SQL is recognized and the standard
language for communication in relational databases. In recent years, Python was used as a partner
to SQL for high-level data manipulation and is considered one of the easiest
languages to learn and great for data analysis and visualization. Other languages have also partnered up with SQL,
such as PHP and Perl.
In
the networking community, programming languages, and scripts have been used by
engineers and administrators to program and configure network gateways and
network hooks built into websites that interact with servers. The Perl
programming language has been used in CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripting
as the demand to execute programs on servers and the need to dynamically spin
up websites have increased.
In
conclusion, programming languages are essential to all technology, either
directly or indirectly, from a simple query instruction on a database to a
complex script to dynamically create a new website using minimal user input. I believe that in the future, a significant
portion of the population will be familiar with at least one form of computer
programming.
References
Hack
Reactor. (n.d.). The history of JavaScript. Retrieved June 2, 2021, from
https://www.hackreactor.com/blog/the-history-of-javascript/
McKeown, R.
(2020, June 3). Top 5 Programming Languages to Learn Alongside SQL.
LearnSQL.Com. https://learnsql.com/blog/programming-language-for-sql-developer-and-dba/
Vigo, J. (2020,
July 23). Top 5 programming languages network admins should learn.
TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/top-5-programming-languages-for-network-admins-to-learn/
Caballero, C.
(2020, August 18). Why You Should Learn JavaScript? DEV Community.
https://dev.to/carlillo/why-you-should-learn-javascript-1ph4
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