Best Programming Languages (2025)
Languages for writing code
🧊Nice Pick
Bash
The duct tape of the command line. It's everywhere, it's messy, but it holds your system together.
Full Rankings
#1
Details →Bash
Nice PickThe duct tape of the command line. It's everywhere, it's messy, but it holds your system together.
Pros
- +Ubiquitous on Unix-like systems, so you can run it almost anywhere
- +Great for quick automation and system administration tasks
- +Powerful scripting with pipes and redirections for chaining commands
Cons
- -Syntax can be cryptic and error-prone, especially for beginners
- -Limited built-in data structures compared to modern scripting languages
The statistician's Swiss Army knife: powerful for data wrangling, but you'll need a PhD to debug its quirks.
Pros
- +Unmatched statistical modeling and hypothesis testing capabilities
- +Extensive package ecosystem via CRAN for specialized domains like bioinformatics and finance
- +Produces publication-quality plots with ggplot2 and base graphics
- +Strong community support in academia and research
Cons
- -Steep learning curve with quirky syntax and inconsistent function naming
- -Memory management can be a nightmare for large datasets
Compare:vs Bash
The over-engineered query language that makes REST look like a toddler's scribble.
Pros
- +Eliminates over-fetching and under-fetching with precise data queries
- +Strongly typed schema ensures API consistency and reduces errors
- +Aggregates data from multiple sources in a single request for efficiency
Cons
- -Complex setup and learning curve compared to REST
- -Can lead to performance issues with deeply nested queries
Microsoft's Swiss Army knife for developers—powerful, polished, and occasionally over-engineered.
Pros
- +Excellent performance and scalability for enterprise applications
- +Cross-platform support with .NET Core and beyond
- +Rich ecosystem with extensive libraries and tooling like Visual Studio
- +Strong type safety and modern features in C#
Cons
- -Steep learning curve for beginners due to its complexity
- -Can feel bloated for simple projects with too many configuration options
The JavaScript Swiss Army knife that made server-side coding cool, but good luck debugging async spaghetti.
Pros
- +Massive ecosystem with npm for easy package management
- +Non-blocking I/O enables high concurrency and scalability
- +Single language (JavaScript) for full-stack development
- +Fast execution with the V8 engine
Cons
- -Callback hell and async complexity can lead to unreadable code
- -Single-threaded nature limits CPU-intensive tasks
Head-to-head comparisons
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