App development world

There is a big buzz around in the app development world. In Q1 2021, Google Play and Apple App Store generated $36.7 billion and $31.8 billion, respectively. By 2023, the overall mobile app revenue will account for $935 billion.

Indeed there is a brighter competition ahead, and you need a robust business application to stand out in this cutthroat competition. Mobile app development is challenging and requires expert programmers to understand the user's needs and find an efficient solution.

Given the variety of mobile devices and OS, you need to know the best programming languages for mobile app development.

With this in mind, we will review the top most popular programming languages and their pros and cons in this blog. So, let's get started.

1. React Native

React Native is an open-source framework for making mobile applications using javascript and React. It is made and supported by Facebook and was first released in 2015.

If you want to develop cross-platform apps, this framework will be the best choice due to its rich UI components. It is trendy among Android and iOS app developers, but it is not recommended for beginners.

Pros:
+ Advanced UI design
+ Free and Open-source
+ Faster App development
+ Provides native app like performance
+ Cost-effective solution

Cons:
- No offline support
- Not suitable for complicated apps
- Lacks the security robustness
- Not ideal for business requirements

2. Kotlin

Kotlin was first released at Google I/O in June 2011 and later became an official language of Android in the following year. It is an object-oriented statically typed programming language that runs on the Java virtual machine (JVM).
The language’s primary strength is that it is 100% interoperable with Java, allowing developers to use both languages on a single project. It will enable a smooth transition to Kotlin for any Java developer without hassles. It is easy to learn and master this language, but it is not free.

Pros:
+ Easy to learn and use
+ Best for enterprise mobile app development
+ Statically checked
+ 100% interoperable with Java
+ Boost team productivity

Cons:
- Paid programming language
- Not suitable for small and simple projects
- Slow compilation

3. Objective-C

Objective-C is a superset of the C programming language and was created by Brad Cox in 1983 at Stepstone. This is one of the most popular languages for developing iOS apps because it performs faster than other alternatives. It was later implemented by Steve Jobs in 1985 and released with the first iPhone device. Companies like Raytheon and Stepstone (for the Taligent project) used this language before Apple officially adopted it.

Pros:
+ Popular & reputed language
+ Best suited for complex apps that need performance and low-level control
+ The core language used for both Android and iOS
+ Great community support

Cons:
- Paid programming language
- Not suitable for small apps that require basic functionalities
- Limited functionality
- Not much secure

4. Swift

Swift is a modern app programming language developed by Apple in 2014 to replace Objective C on the iOS platform. It was built with the LLVM compiler and had an interactive playground for rapid prototyping. It allows you to build iOS apps faster with less code. Swift is simple to learn, but it is difficult for beginners because of the syntax differences from other popular languages.

Pros:
+ Free and open-source (GPL)
+ Faster app development time
+ Best programming language for iOS apps
+ Simple and readable syntax that is easy to understand

Cons:
- Not suitable for small projects that don't require complex features
- Requires an additional step to convert Objective-C codes
- Not suitable for enterprise mobile app development

5. Python

Python is one of the top app programming languages used today. It was developed by Guido Van Rossum in 1989 and made open-source in 1991. It is free, fast, easy to learn, and offers enormous community support with hundreds of libraries available for different purposes.

The language is ideal for beginners and professionals, but it is challenging to scale large projects with this programming language. It supports object-oriented, functional, and imperative programming styles.

Pros:
+ Best suited for both small and large projects
+ Freely available to download or use online
+ No need to import any separate modules or packages
+ Vast library support
+ Good community support

Cons:
- No offline support
- Not suitable for complicated apps
- Not memory efficient

6. Dart

Google developed the Dart programming language as a replacement for JavaScript because it could not fulfill the specific requirements of its mobile app development projects. However, it is also used as a general-purpose programming language on the web. It is object-oriented and structured, similar to Java and C#, with static typing and operators. The syntax is efficient, but it is different from other popular programming languages like C++, C#, Python, JavaScript, etc.

Pros:
+ Best suited for large projects that involve complex features
+ Freely available to download or use online
+ No need to import any separate modules or packages
+ Easy to learn and master, even for beginners
+ Good community support

Cons:
- Not suitable for small projects that require basic functionalities
- Difficult to debug
- Difficult to read and write for beginners

7. Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is a web application framework written with the Ruby programming language that includes an integrated development environment (IDE). It follows the model–view–controller (MVC) pattern and allows you to build databases and create dynamic web apps quickly. As a "web 2.0" framework, it is usually used for full-stack development because of its easy integration with HTML and JavaScript, making it one of the best programming languages for mobile app development.

Pros:
+ Easy to use
+ Easily integrates with existing libraries and frameworks
+ Suitable for small and large projects
+ Provides high levels of scalability
+ Good community support

Cons:
- Not suitable for simple projects
- A paid web framework
- Difficult to debug

8. SQL

SQL is a type of structured query language used to communicate with databases, and it is also known as the standard query language (SQL). It works on almost every database platform and has been around since 1974, making it one of the oldest app programming languages still in use.

When combined with HTML and JavaScript, it can develop dynamic web pages. It is also one of the great programming languages for mobile app development because you can build backend databases and manage data.

Pros:
+ Easy to learn and use
+ Used in almost every existing database platform
+ Cross-platform compatible
+ Can be used to build and manage data
+ Good community support
+ Suitable for both small and large projects
+ Easy to maintain

Cons:

- Not suitable for large applications with many different features.
- Slow development cycle
- May require additional database support
- Lag in hardware support

Conclusion

The best programming languages for mobile application development allow faster and efficient coding and access to existing frameworks. They should also be compatible with different types of databases. That's why SQL programming languages and JavaScript and HTML are on this list.

With these languages, you can create the best mobile apps. In addition, it helps to have plenty of knowledge about dynamic programming paradigms and modern app development environments.

You can also consider hiring an affordable Android or iOS app development company with over ten years of experience building custom mobile applications for better assistance. They'll help you plan and design the perfect mobile app and then make it.