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Top Programming Languages for Different Types of Mobile App Development

Top Programming Languages for Different Types of Mobile App Development

06 Jan 2023

When you have made up your mind about mobile app development, you should select a programming language that can cater to all your requirements in the best possible way. We all know that there are multiple programming languages available out there in the market. However, we should pick the one that is feasible for us to use and also aligns well with the type of mobile app that we are developing. Mobile apps can broadly be classified into the following three types:

  • Native Mobile Apps- As the name suggests, these are the apps that are platform-specific. This mainly includes iOS and Android operating systems. A native mobile app developed solely for the Android operating system can simply not work for iOS and vice-versa.
  • Hybrid Mobile Apps- These are versatile kinds of apps that can work equally well on multiple platforms or in other words, they are cross-platform apps. After their development, these apps can run on any mobile device irrespective of the underlying operating system.
  • Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)- PWAs can be considered a blend of the best technologies from mobile and web app development. These apps can easily run on multiple platforms including desktops as well as mobile devices because of their development methodology.

Now, depending on the type of mobile app that you are going to build, you should pick the best programming language. For your convenience, we have shared the top programming languages for different types of mobile app development in this guide. 

For Native Apps

The native apps have two main categories i.e. Android and iOS. Depending upon which of these operating systems you wish to serve, you can choose any of the programming languages listed below:

Programming Languages for Android

For the Android operating system, Java and Kotlin are the two most popular programming languages. 

Java

Java is by far the best-suited programming language for Android app development. Not only is it easy to code but can also run very efficiently. Moreover, all the newly developed Android programming languages are somehow derivatives of Java.

Kotlin

Kotlin is a relatively modern Android programming language that came into being in 2011. It enables you to write more efficient and faster code that, in turn, can improve the response time of your Android app. 

Programming Languages for iOS

Whenever we talk about iOS mobile app development, then the only two programming languages that come to our minds are Swift and Objective-C. 

Swift

Swift is the most extensively used programming language for iOS mobile app development. It is an extremely user-friendly and easy-to-code programming language. Moreover, this programming language provides an exceptional level of programming freedom to the developer than any other language out there.

Objective-C

This programming language inherits its name from the traditional C programming language. In fact, it is the first programming language that was developed for iOS app development. However, it is a bit difficult to carry out debugging with Objective-C. Nevertheless, Folium AI has got you covered with its exceptional mobile testing services

For Hybrid Apps

For developing cross-platform or hybrid mobile apps, the top two programming languages without a doubt are C# and React Native.

C#

C# is a highly-versatile programming language that is very frequently used for hybrid mobile app development. The code once written in C# can easily be cross-compiled hence allowing it to run natively on Android as well as iOS platforms. 

React Native

Because of its capability of communicating with JavaScript for manipulating the native components of different platforms, we can use React Native for hybrid mobile app development. However, this means that to adopt this approach for hybrid mobile app development, you need to have expertise in both JavaScript as well as React Native. For building your hybrid apps, you can easily hire a freelance React Native developer.  

For Progressive Web Apps

To develop the highest in-demand PWAs, you can consider any of the following three programming languages.

JavaScript

Users with some basic programming knowledge and technical skills prefer JavaScript for PWAs. The best thing about JavaScript is that we can easily combine it with HTML and CSS to develop aesthetically sound PWAs.

Ruby

Ruby is a general-purpose and highly flexible programming language that we can use for PWA development. The reason behind the popularity of this programming language is the extreme level of simplicity that it offers. However, a slight issue with Ruby is that it is a relatively complex-to-debug programming language. 

Python

Users equally prefer Python and Ruby for PWA development. Nevertheless, Python is a comparatively more difficult-to-learn programming language. However, it offers an additional benefit of data analytics and visualization. Python should be your first choice if you are planning to develop a PWA for educational or data-centered purposes. However, if you simply want to build a PWA for commercial purposes, then you should prefer Ruby over Python.

Final Words

We wanted to share with you the different programming languages that you can use for mobile app development. You can make this choice depending on the type of mobile app that you wish to develop. Once you have decided on the programming language for developing your mobile app, you can either start developing it on your own or outsource it to a feasible resource e.g. you can hire a freelance React Native developer for hybrid app development. However, if you need to offload the burden of mobile app development entirely from your shoulders, then you can consider taking the mobile app development services from Folium AI. 

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