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Python overtakes JavaScript as most queried language on Stack Overflow

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A new study from crowdsourced QA testers Global App Testing has explored developers’ biggest pain points, with Python dethroning JavaScript as Stack Overflow’s most questioned programming language.

The research focused on JavaScript, Python, R, Ruby, C#, C++, Java, Objective-C, Swift, PHP and SQL – not so much 11 languages but 10 languages and a database – and went through a semantic route to determine major issues.

In terms of sheer numbers, JavaScript came out on top with more than 1.75 million questions asked over Stack Overflow’s more than 10-year history. Java came second with 1.51m, with C# (1.28m), PHP (1.26m) and Python (1.1m) the others to break the million mark. Yet with regard to today, Python is top of the shop, having overtaken JavaScript for questions asked in late 2018.

Digging down into what developers were looking for in each language – the data cleaning was done in Python and the word cloud builder was in JavaScript, just to be fair – led to arguably few surprises. For JavaScript, ‘jQuery’ was by far the most questioned framework, with ‘function’, ‘duplicate’ and ‘string’ also popular words. For Python, the latter two were the most popular, but of interest to note was ‘django’. “Python is a general purpose duct-tape language and gets involved in many different domains of tech,” as the researchers put it.

The other languages analysed came up with some more interesting results. For Ruby, the most popular word was ‘rails’; hardly surprising, but it was the most popular by a street. More niche-purpose languages such as R, for data scientists, came back with more specific terms, including ‘dataframe’, ‘datatable’ and ‘ggplot’.

Global App Testing assessed the overall research thus. “Each programming language has over time been geared toward – or was even designed for – a particular niche within tech,” the company noted. “R is to data science as Swift is to iOS development as C++ is to video game development. This explains some of the differences in the types of problems that arise… why we see ‘database’ a commonly questioned concept in SQL but not, for example, Objective-C.

“Despite these obvious differences, these visualisations represent some fundamental similarities within the different domains,” the company added. “Base-level data types such as strings and arrays – but not integers, floats, or Boolean values, apparently – are frequently pain points that cause developers of all stripes and creeds to turn to Stack Overflow.”

The developer portal has previously noted some of these trends. A report from Stack Overflow last January noted how jQuery remained the most popular JavaScript framework while adding the share for market voice was ‘brutal’, while as far back as September 2017 the company was assessing what it called ‘incredible’ growth in Python.

You can read the full Global App Testing analysis here.

Interested in a career change using Java, Javascript or Python, check out some of our latest jobs here!

 

 

James Bourne – Developer Tech

Software Development Feature: 12 Major Advantages of ASP.NET

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ASP.NET stands for Active Server Pages .NET and is developed by Microsoft. ASP.NET is used to create web pages and web technologies and is an integral part of Microsoft’s .NET framework vision. As a member of the .NET framework, ASP.NET is a very valuable tool for software programmers and software developers as it allows them to build dynamic, rich web sites and web applications using compiled languages like VB and C#.

ASP.NET is not limited to script languages, it allows you to make use of .NET languages like C#, J#, VB, etc. It allows software developers to build very compelling applications by making use of Visual Studio, the development tool provided by Microsoft. ASP.NET is purely server-side technology. It is built on a common language runtime that can be used on any Windows server to host powerful ASP.NET web sites and technologies.

In the early days of the Web i.e. before the release of Internet Information Services (IIS) in 1997, the contents of web pages were largely static. These web pages needed to be constantly, and manually, modified. There was an urgent need to create web sites that were dynamic and would update automatically.

Microsoft’s Active Server Pages (ASP) was brought to the market to meet this need. ASP executed on the server side, with its output sent to the user’s web browser, thus allowing the server to generate dynamic web pages based on the actions of the user.

These server-side technologies are important contributions to the development of the Web. Amazon.com, eBay.com, and many other popular web sites use ASP.NET as the framework for their site; without ASP.NET it would not be possible.

 

12 important advantages ASP.NET offers over other Web development models:
  1. ASP.NET drastically reduces the amount of code required to build large applications.
  2. With built-in Windows authentication and per-application configuration, your applications are safe and secured.
  3. It provides better performance by taking advantage of early binding, just-in-time compilation, native optimization, and caching services right out of the box.
  4. The ASP.NET framework is complemented by a rich toolbox and designer in the Visual Studio integrated development environment. WYSIWYG editing, drag-and-drop server controls, and automatic deployment are just a few of the features this powerful tool provides.
  5. Provides simplicity as ASP.NET makes it easy to perform common tasks, from simple form submission and client authentication to deployment and site configuration.
  6. The source code and HTML are together therefore ASP.NET pages are easy to maintain and write. Also the source code is executed on the server. This provides a lot of power and flexibility to the web pages.
  7. All the processes are closely monitored and managed by the ASP.NET runtime, so that if process is dead, a new process can be created in its place, which helps keep your application constantly available to handle requests.
  8. It is purely server-side technology so, ASP.NET code executes on the server before it is sent to the browser.
  9. Being language-independent, it allows you to choose the language that best applies to your application or partition your application across many languages.
  10. ASP.NET makes for easy deployment. There is no need to register components because the configuration information is built-in.
  11. The Web server continuously monitors the pages, components and applications running on it. If it notices any memory leaks, infinite loops, other illegal activities, it immediately destroys those activities and restarts itself.
  12. Easily works with ADO.NET using data-binding and page formatting features. It is an application which runs faster and counters large volumes of users without having performance problems

In short ASP.NET, the next generation version of Microsoft’s ASP, is a programming framework used to create enterprise-class web sites, web applications, and technologies. ASP.NET developed applications are accessible on a global basis leading to efficient information management. Whether you are building a small business web site or a large corporate web application distributed across multiple networks, ASP.NET will provide you all the features you could possibly need…and at an affordable cost: FREE!

Do you possess skills in ASP.NET? Check out our latest Software Development job role which is focuses mainly on C#/ASP.NET by following this link!

– Steve Kozyk

Top 10 Most In-Demand Software Programming Languages

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The tech sector is booming! As a result, software coding skills are in high demand, with programming jobs paying significantly more than the average position. Even beyond the tech world, an understanding of at least one programming language makes an impressive addition to any CV.

The in-vogue languages vary by employment sector. Financial and enterprise systems need to perform complicated functions and remain highly organized, requiring languages like Java and C#. Media- and design-related webpages and software will require dynamic, versatile and functional languages with minimal code, such as Ruby, PHP, JavaScript and Objective-C..

So what are the top 10 in-demand programming languages to date?

 

  1. SQL

It’s no surprise SQL (pronounced ‘sequel’) tops the job list since it can be found far and wide in various flavors. Database technologies such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server power big businesses, small businesses, hospitals, banks, universities. Indeed, just about every computer and person with access to technology eventually touches something SQL. For instance, all Android phones and iPhones have access to a SQL database called SQLite and many mobile apps developed Google, Skype and DropBox use it directly.

  1. Java

The tech community recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of Java. It’s one of the most widely adopted programming languages, used by some 9 million developers and running on 7 billion devices worldwide. It’s also the programming language used to develop all native Android apps. Java’s popularity with developers is due to the fact that the language is grounded in readability and simplicity. Java has staying power since it has long-term compatibility, which makes sure older applications continue to work now into the future. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon and is used to power company websites like LinkedIn.com, Netflix.com and Amazon.com.

  1. JavaScript

JavaScript – not to be confused with Java – is another one of the world’s most popular and powerful programming languages, and is used to spice up web pages by making them interactive. For example, JavaScript can be used to add effects to web pages, display pop-up messages or to create games with basic functionality. It’s also worth noting that JavaScript is the scripting language of the World Wide Web and is built right into all major web browsers including Internet Explorer, FireFox and Safari. Almost every website incorporates some element of JavaScript to add to the user experience, adding to the demand for JavaScript developers. In recent years JavaScript has also gained use as the foundation of Node.js, a server technology that among other things enables real-time communication.  

  1. C#

Dating from 2000, C# (pronounced C-sharp) is a relatively new programming language designed by Microsoft for a wide range of enterprise applications that run on the .NET Framework. An evolution of C and  C++, the C# language is simple, modern, type safe and object oriented.

  1. C++

C++ (pronounced C-plus-plus) is a general purpose object-oriented programming language based on the earlier ‘C’ language. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs, C++ was first released in 1983. Stroustrup keeps an extensive list of applications written in C++. The list includes Adobe and Microsoft applications, MongoDB databases, large portions of Mac OS/X and is the best language to learn for performance-critical applications such as “twitch” game development or audio/video processing.

  1. Python

Python is a general purpose programming language that was named after the Monty Python (so you know it’s fun to work with)! Python is simple and incredibly readable since closely resembles the English language. It’s a great language for beginners, all the way up to seasoned professionals. Python recently bumped Java as the language of choice in introductory programming courses with eight of the top 10 computer science departments now using Python to teach coding, as well as 27 of the top 39 schools. Because of Python’s use in the educational realm, there are a lot of libraries created for Python related to mathematics, physics and natural processing. PBS, NASA and Reddit use Python for their websites.

  1.     PHP

Created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, PHP was never actually intended to be a new programming language. Instead, it was created to be a set of tools to help Rasmus maintain his Personal Home Page (PHP). Today, PHP (Hypertext Pre-Processor) is a scripting language, running on the server, which can be used to create web pages written in HTML. PHP tends to be a popular language since its easy-to use by new programmers, but also offers tons of advanced features for more experienced programmers.

  1. Ruby on Rails

Like Java or the C language, Ruby is a general purpose programming language, though it is best known for its use in web programming, and Rails serves as a framework for the Ruby Language. Ruby on Rails has many positive qualities including rapid development, you don’t need as much code, and there are a wide variety of 3rd party libraries available. It’s used from companies ranging from small start-ups to large enterprises and everything in-between. Hulu, Twitter, Github and Living Social are using Ruby on Rails for at least one of their web applications.

  1.    iOS/Swift

In 2014, Apple decided to invent their own programming language. The result was Swift – a new programming language for iOS and OS X developers to create their next killer app. Developers will find that many parts of Swift are familiar from their experience of developing in C++ and Objective-C. Companies including American Airlines, LinkedIn, and Duolingo have been quick to adopt Swift, and we’ll see this language on the rise in the coming years.

  1.     Objective C

Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language used by the Apple operating system. It powers Apple’s OS X and iOS, as well as its APIs, and can be used to create iPhone apps, which has generated a huge demand for this once-outmoded programming language.

 

Any great craftsman has a belt full of tools, each a perfect choice for certain situations. Similarly, there will never be just a single programming language, and each language will evolve and improve over time to keep pace with innovation.

If you’re interested in becoming a developer, it’s important to be well-versed in a number of programming languages so you can be versatile and adaptable – and then continue to learn/master languages throughout your career.

 

If you have reasonable knowledge within any of these programming language types, our new Software Developer role may be just right for you. Check it out by clicking here!

 

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