The Single Best and Worst Things About Popular Programming Languages

posted Wed, Sep 11, 2024 by darren horrocks

I use a lot of programming languages, I use them in different ways for different things because they are tools to do a job, just like a hammer is a tool to hammer in nails and a screwdriver (shockingly) drives screws… And while you can hammer in nails with a screwdriver, and you can drive screws with a hammer… They are not the best tools for those jobs.

So lets have a look at what jobs that some given languages, are good at and what they are bad at…

C

• Best Thing: Low-Level Control
  • C provides an unparalleled level of control over system resources like memory and hardware. This is why it’s the foundation of operating systems, embedded systems, and high-performance applications.
• Worst Thing: Manual Memory Management
  • The flip side of C’s low-level control is that it requires the programmer to manage memory manually. This can lead to errors like memory leaks and segmentation faults, which can be tricky to debug.

C++

• Best Thing: Object-Oriented with High Performance
  • C++ combines the power of C with object-oriented features, making it suitable for high-performance applications that still need abstractions like classes and inheritance.
• Worst Thing: Complexity
  • C++ is notoriously complex, with a vast array of features, from multiple inheritance to template metaprogramming, which can be difficult to learn and prone to misuse.

C#

• Best Thing: Integrated Development with .NET
  • C# is tightly integrated with Microsoft’s .NET ecosystem, making it easy to develop cross-platform applications, particularly desktop and web apps, with powerful development tools like Visual Studio.
• Worst Thing: Platform Dependency (Historically)
  • While cross-platform support has improved with .NET Core and later versions, C# was long seen as a Microsoft-centric language, limiting its appeal to developers working outside the Windows ecosystem.

Java

• Best Thing: Write Once, Run Anywhere
  • Java’s promise of platform independence through the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) allows code to run on any system that has a JVM, making it a top choice for enterprise applications.
• Worst Thing: Verbose Syntax
  • Java’s strict object-oriented nature and requirement for boilerplate code, like getters and setters, make it more verbose than other languages, leading to more typing and less concise code.

JavaScript

• Best Thing: Ubiquity in Web Development
  • JavaScript is the only programming language natively supported by all web browsers, making it indispensable for front-end web development. Its versatility with frameworks like Node.js also extends its reach to the server side.
• Worst Thing: Inconsistent Behavior
  • JavaScript’s quirks, such as type coercion and confusing scoping rules, often result in unexpected behavior, leading to frustration, especially for beginners.

Rust

• Best Thing: Memory Safety Without a Garbage Collector
  • Rust’s unique ownership model ensures memory safety and prevents common bugs like null pointer dereferencing or data races, all without needing a garbage collector.
• Worst Thing: Steep Learning Curve
  • Rust’s novel concepts, particularly around ownership and lifetimes, can be challenging to grasp, even for experienced developers coming from other languages.

Python

• Best Thing: Readability and Simplicity
  • Python’s clean and human-readable syntax makes it an ideal language for beginners, while its vast libraries and frameworks make it powerful enough for professional use in data science, web development, and automation.
• Worst Thing: Performance
  • Python is an interpreted language and tends to be slower than compiled languages like C or Go, making it less ideal for performance-critical applications.

PHP

• Best Thing: Web Development Simplicity
  • PHP is designed for the web, and its tight integration with HTML makes it extremely simple to create dynamic web pages. This makes it a popular choice for content management systems like WordPress.
• Worst Thing: Inconsistent Design
  • PHP has evolved organically, leading to inconsistent naming conventions, inconsistent function arguments, and a general feeling of “messiness” in larger projects.

Ruby

• Best Thing: Elegant Syntax
  • Ruby’s principle of “optimizing for programmer happiness” is reflected in its elegant and expressive syntax, making it a joy to read and write, especially when using frameworks like Ruby on Rails.
• Worst Thing: Performance Issues
  • Ruby can be slow in comparison to languages like Python or Java, especially when it comes to CPU-bound operations, which may limit its use in high-performance applications.

Swift

• Best Thing: Modern Language for Apple Ecosystem
  • Swift was designed to be fast, safe, and expressive, and it has become the go-to language for developing iOS and macOS apps. Its syntax is concise yet powerful, which improves developer productivity.
• Worst Thing: Apple-Only Focus
  • Despite its technical merits, Swift’s primary use case is still within the Apple ecosystem, limiting its reach for developers who aren’t working on Apple platforms.

Go

• Best Thing: Concurrency Support
  • Go was designed with concurrency in mind, and its goroutines provide a simple yet powerful way to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, making it ideal for distributed systems and network services.
• Worst Thing: Limited Language Features
  • While Go’s simplicity is a strength, some developers find it too minimalistic, lacking features like generics (which were added only in later versions) and comprehensive error handling patterns.

Kotlin

• Best Thing: Interoperability with Java
  • Kotlin’s seamless interoperability with Java, combined with modern language features like null safety and extension functions, make it an ideal choice for Android development and projects with existing Java codebases.
• Worst Thing: Limited Ecosystem Outside the JVM
  • Although Kotlin has been growing in popularity, especially for Android development, its ecosystem outside of JVM-related applications is still limited compared to more established languages.

Assembly

• Best Thing: Maximum Control Over Hardware
  • Writing in Assembly allows developers to control the hardware at the instruction level, making it essential for developing highly optimized, low-level software like drivers and bootloaders.
• Worst Thing: Complexity and Readability
  • Assembly is difficult to write and even harder to read. It requires a deep understanding of the underlying hardware and is impractical for most modern software development tasks.

Objective-C

• Best Thing: Mature Language for macOS and iOS
  • Objective-C has been the backbone of Apple development for decades, and it has a rich ecosystem of libraries, frameworks, and tools designed for macOS and iOS applications.
• Worst Thing: Verbose Syntax
  • Objective-C’s syntax is notoriously verbose, particularly when compared to newer languages like Swift. This can make code harder to read and write, slowing down development.

---

This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it a concrete guide of “this is how you should do things”, this is just what I have found over the years and what I personally have found to be the best and worst parts of these languages and what they are good at, and not good at. What languages do you use, and what do you think they are or are not good at?