The programming world never stops developing. Whether it be from the early stages of Binary to the era of C++ and the eventual emergence of Python and PHP, a scientific historian can look back and marvel at the majestic evolution of coding throughout the past decades. With so many new languages and libraries being developed around the world, it can be easy, even as a programmer, to lose track of all that is going on. Often, a curious developer is faced with an alphabet soup of terms, libraries, and languages—which can be both marveling and perplexing. Below are seven massive and curious new innovative developments that everyone, especially programmers, should know about.

1. Dart: In 2011, Google launched Dart, a programming language for the Web. Outside its pacific aqua logo, Dart possesses an audacious goal: to replace JavaDart_logo_wordmarkscript as the main language on open web platforms. At least 99% of all major websites utilize some measure of Javascript, many often deferring to the advantageous Javascript library, jQuery, for a variety of applications. Hence, such undertaking is daring; but, given Google’s resume of achievement, it is far form unimaginable. Like most new programming languages, Dart faces a challenge of convincing current programmers that learning a new syntax is worth the perks. A major question is applicability to most common web browsers. Because only the exclusive Chromium browser has a built-in virtual machine capable of processing Dart, Dart code must be compiled into Javascript to provide applicability on all popular web browsers to ensure compatibility.

Why is it important? Dart may become, if Google gets their wish, the go-to language for both new avid web developers and veteran programmers. But will Javascript join the list of mostly retired languages? Only the future can tell. Check out Dart’s page here.

2. Swift: Launched recently, Swift stirred up quite a buzz at the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference). Apple, a commonly understood competitor of Google and Android, describes their new language as “interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast.”

Swift’s architecture appears to live up to that bold statement. Not only is Swift dedicated to working on iOS and OS X, allowing developers to more efficiently create apps, but it is also equipped with interactive playgrounds, allowing programmers to create code seamlessly and view results instantly. As one of the most popular OS systems for mobile phones, iOS has a legacy of being the birthplace of the modern phone “app.” The app field remains a hot market, which only indicates that Swift is a critical development in the programming sphere.

Apple's Swift in Action. Image Courtesy of Swift's Launch page online.
Apple’s Swift in Action. Image Courtesy of Swift’s Launch page online.
What is the technical infrastructure? Swift is based on an Xcode environment that has been lauded by many developers (but, for Android lovers, not all) as significantly easier to use than Android’s counterpart, Eclipse. While Apple in popular media has been previously mocked for easy mobile “jailbreaks” to access free content, Swift is established in Objective-C and C infrastructure, which has a reputation of being more secure from general piracy. This brings up another comparative advantage: Objective-C has such a strong learning curve, and with Swift’s more concise infrastructure, novice iOS developers may be motivated to diversify their projects.

What’s so cool about it? Swift is built for programming safety. Memory is managed automatically, the syntax is easily readable, and arrays and integers are screened immediately to prevent potential overflow. View Swift’s beautiful and dynamic page here.

3. Julia: Launched in 2012, Julia is a high-level dynamic computational programming language that has a main goal of getting and fixing the problem fast. While Matlab and Wolfram Alpha’s alternate Mathematica 9 dominate the computational world throughout, a new successor may be viable. Julia has many peculiar aspects, such as multiple dispatch, when a computer function could be called based entirely on the run time of other parts of the object in question. Multiple dispatch could make solving algorithms easier, yet what makes Julia really interesting is its build. You can access, in basic terms, the bare bones of the language without leaving the interface of the language: it is like speaking English while immediately understanding the Latinjulia, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon roots of the words you use.

What makes it important? Julia might not be for everyone, given that it is primarily a mathematical language. Since many users of Matlab have relatively simple and less aggressive problems, the diverse literature on the topic may make the old dog the better choice. But for experimental programmers that want to have dynamic and complex tools at their side while undertaking high level calculations, Julia may prove a better investment to Matlab. One awesome thing is that it includes infinity as a data type and can undergo complex number mathematics straightforwardly without deferring to intricate arrangements.

hACK logo

4. Hack: It is no surprise that Mark Zuckerberg’s titanic website-based corporation, Facebook, made this list. Facebook launched the dynamic language Hack in early 2014, which runs on the HipHop Virtual Machine, a feature that converts PHP code into high-level bytecode to make performance better. But what really makes Hack stellar? For obvious reasons, Facebook every minute processes countless interactions with users, making Hack even more critical. In many ways, Facebook has already produced a litmus test to attest to Hack’s power: Facebook has migrated a majority of its PHP code to Hack, which proves its web applicability is phenomenal, especially since Facebook has increased its functionality without compromising its speed. So where does Hack come into play? Hack allows developers to weave web constructs dynamically, a feature known as dynamic typing.

Hack and PHP have alike code identifiers which can be weaved into an HTML environment.
Hack and PHP have alike code identifiers which can be weaved into an HTML environment.
Why is this awesome? Hack allows Facebook and other websites to be developed faster and more error free. HHVM includes a type checker that warns you of any errors, even prior to running the application, by monitoring variable declarations. For companies that have hundreds of programmers sending in code snippets daily, monitoring for bugs proves tedious. Hack solves that issue by giving programmers the aforementioned power to efficiently remove common bugs. And while many of the languages on this list are yet to go into major use publicly, Hack already is flexing its muscles live on the Web. While his personal involvement in developing Hack is unclear, Mark Zuckerberg and his company deserves a round of applause for such an groundbreaking accomplishment.

5. Ceylon: While sharing the old name of the island Sri Lanka, whose language is predominantly Sinhalese and Tamil, Ceylon is also the name of a programming language that was founded in 2011 by a multi-national software company known as Red Hat. The shared name is no coincidence: Ceylon seems to be a Java replacement, and as Java is an island known for Coffee, Ceylon, or Sri Lanka, is similarly known for Coffee. But wordplay aside, what really does Ceylon offer? Based on Java (the language, not island), Ceylon features a valiant promise about what it is made for: “Ceylon is a language for writing large programs in teams.”

So what was Ceylon created for? Not only did the project aim at creating better-structured data systems and stronger higher-order functions, but it tackled an issue of meta-programming: when the code enters an “inception-complex,” where code modifies code. The language is boasted by users as “readable” and “predictable,” issuing a promise of clarity upon use. The target is Java’s alleged outdated syntax, and Gavin King, the founder, argues that Ceylon is more readable than Java, comparing its robust architecture to something more modern such as C#. But King also announced something bigger: not only is Ceylon an entirely new language, but it will also feature an entire class library, much like Java has in SDK.ceylonlolol

Why should we care? Ceylon makes programming in groups not only more efficient, but also less stressful. Seen often as a competitor to the aforementioned Java, Ceylon boasts a strong poker hand of having both server-side-development and front-end-development and stronger flexibility. While such competition may sounds like a muscle contest between two bodybuilders, it can be safely concluded that more options on the table is always better.

logo6. Elm: A programming language created for graphical user-interfaces on web browsers, Elm is a pretty big topic. Founded by Evan Czaplicki in 2011, Elm compiles with the basic Javascript and HTML and is detailed as a functional reactive programming language, a language that uses elements of time-varying values known as Signals to easily create web interfaces for users. Elm’s tug-of- war is convincing programmers that learning a new syntax is worth it; one of Elm’s fortes is allowing programmers to accomplish simple tasks without having to deal with detailed HTML and CSS structures. With an Elm-to-Javascript compiler available, Elm makes web design easier and faster.

What’s so great about it? To draw a polygon, programmers no longer need to define complex areas established with Javascript and HTML. This allows user involvement as well: it only takes a few lines of code in Elm to allow the user to draw a circle. This buffed up programming language proves to show major promise as it could revolutionize the speed at which web apps are developed. That being said, Elm isn’t nearly done. Czaplicki plans on making more libraries and stronger features.

7. Fancy: An object-oriented language created by Christopher Bertels in 2010, Fancy is a relatively new language based on Ruby, Smalltalk (what a great name), and Erlang. Fancy, as described by Bertels, is a mix of features of the major languages established above. Bertels concerned himself with the semantics of a language by giving Fancy more inherent features, as opposed to other languages that depend primarily on a major library. Fancy is rather new, and in many ways, still in development, but for veteran programmers in the previous languages, Fancy may prove to be helpful in creating a more modern framework. fancy

Why is this awesome? First thing’s first, this is the realest solution to modern integration with Ruby. But pop culture jokes aside (look up Iggy Alazea’s “Fancy” Lyrics if you didn’t catch it), Fancy can coexist with Ruby and interaction between the two is not difficult or complicated. So, if you have ever dabbled in Ruby, take a look at Fancy because it may just be your cup of tea.

With multiple minor languages unmentioned, it could be safe to conclude that the programming world is as busy as ever. That isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be more. Gilad Bracha, a software engineer from Google, noted recently that the more web languages, the better, since designers can pick and choose which language best feeds their interests. After reviewing and researching all of the above, I can safely say that the world of computer software, an always optimistic field, shows true promise.

http://ugtimes.com/2014/06/science-and-technology/the-7-new-and-coolest-programming-innovations/

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