A Look Ahead to Programming Languages in 2020

Python and JavaScript are the two hottest programming languages today. However, they cannot remain on top forever. Eventually, they must fall out of favour, as all languages do. This is likely to happen within the next decade or so. What languages might come to replace them? Here’s my list of challengers… Dart Thanks to the Flutter framework and Google’s imprimatur, this language has quickly risen in popularity. It’s similar to the same driving force that made Ruby so popular: the Rails framework. And if Google’s Fuchsia takes off, Dart will be in the centre of it. Key advantage: it's a much better language than JavaScript. Key disadvantage: it's up against JavaScript and its deluded hordes. Mandelbrot set sample: double _r,_i; double get r => _r; double get i => _i; double abs() => r*r+i*i; } z=z*(z)+c; } } } print(line); } } class Complex { Complex( this ._r, this ._i); String toString() => "($r,$i)" ; Complex operator + ( Complex other ) => new Complex(r+other.r,i+other.i); Complex operator * ( Complex other ) => new Complex(r*other.r-i*other.i,r*other.i+other.r*i); void main ( ) { double start_x=- 1.5 ; double start_y=- 1.0 ; double step_x= 0.03 ; double step_y= 0.1 ; for (int y= 0 ;y 2 ) { break ; line+=z.abs()> 2 ? " " : "*" ; Elixir Elixir is an Erlang-derivative with an improved syntax and the same, amazing support for concurrency. As a pure functional language, it has a good likelihood of elevating this paradigm into the mainstream. Key advantage: it makes functional programming exceptionally easy. And it's great for concurrency. Key disadvantage: you need to understand the underlying OTP foundation which can be a daunting task. Mandelbrot set sample: stepX = (maxRe - minRe) / xsize stepY = (maxIm - minIm) / ysize im = minIm + stepY * y re = minRe + stepX * x end) |> IO.puts end) end a = zr * zr b = zi * zi end end Mandelbrot.set defmodule Mandelbrot do def set do xsize = 59 ysize = 21 minIm = - 1.0 maxIm = 1.0 minRe = - 2.0 maxRe = 1.0 Enum.each( 0. .ysize, fn y -> Enum.map( 0. .xsize, fn x -> 62 - loop( 0 , re, im, re, im, re*re+im*im) defp loop(n, _, _, _, _, _) when n>= 30 , do : n defp loop(n, _, _, _, _, v) when v> 4.0 , do : n- 1 defp loop(n, re, im, zr, zi, _) do loop(n+ 1 , re, im, a-b+re, 2 *zr*zi+im, a+b) Golang Another Google-supported language, Golang has proven to be winner, thanks to its lightning-quick compilation speed, easy and efficient concurrency, and remarkable simplicity. The only thing missing is generics, and this feature is on the roadmap. Key advantage: it's super-simple, and great for concurrency. Key disadvantage: it lacks generics (for now). Mandelbrot set sample: ) ) func mandelbrot(a complex128) float64 { z = z*z + a } } draw.Draw(b, bounds, image.NewUniform(color.Black), image.ZP, draw.Src) float64(x)/scale+rMin, float64(y)/scale+iMin)) b.Set(x, y, color.NRGBA{uint8(red * fEsc), } } fmt.Println(err) } fmt.Println(err) } fmt.Println(err) } } package main import ( "fmt" "image" "image/color" "image/draw" "image/png" "math/cmplx" "os" const ( maxEsc = 100 rMin = - 2. rMax = .5 iMin = - 1. iMax = 1. width = 750 red = 230 green = 235 blue = 255 i := 0 for z := a; cmplx.Abs(z) < 2 && i < maxEsc; i++ { return float64(maxEsc-i) / maxEsc func main ( ) { scale := width / (rMax - rMin) height := int(scale * (iMax - iMin)) bounds := image.Rect( 0 , 0 , width, height) b := image.NewNRGBA(bounds) for x := 0 ; x < width; x++ { for y := 0 ; y < height; y++ { fEsc := mandelbrot(complex( uint8(green * fEsc), uint8(blue * fEsc), 255 }) f, err := os.Create( "mandelbrot.png" ) if err != nil { return if err = png.Encode(f, b); err != nil { if err = f.Close(); err != nil { Julia Julia’s strength is its excellent support for mathematical computation. The math-friendly syntax is great for data scientists. If any language can overthrow Python, this one is definitely a contender. Key advantage: it's well-designed for scientists. Key disadvantage: it's up against Python, the king of data science. Mandelbrot set sample: i = maxIter ) z = c end img[y,x] = RGB{Float64}(r, g, b) end end end mandelbrot() using Images @inline function hsv2rgb ( h, s, v ) const c = v * s const x = c * ( 1 - abs(((h/ 60 ) % 2 ) - 1 ) ) const m = v - c const r , g , b = if h < 60 ( c, x, 0 ) elseif h < 120 ( x, c, 0 ) elseif h < 180 ( 0 , c, x ) elseif h < 240 ( 0 , x, c ) elseif h 0 z = z^ 2 + c const r,g,b = hsv2rgb(i / maxIter * 360 , 1 , i / maxIter) save( "mandelbrot_set.png" , img) Kotlin Kotlin is better Java. In fact, it’s practically a drop-in replacement for Java. Google have already made it a first-class language for Android development. the Key advantage: it's a souped-up Java. Key disadvantage: it's a very large language, even compared to Java. Mandelbrot set sample: companion object { } private val img: BufferedImage init { defaultCloseOperation = EXIT_ON_CLOSE img = BufferedImage(width, height, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB) val tmp = zx * zx - zy * zy + cX zx = tmp iter-- } } } } } } } import java.awt.Graphics import java.awt.image.BufferedImage import javax.swing.JFrame class Mandelbrot : JFrame (" Mandelbrot Set ") { private const val MAX_ITER = 570 private const val ZOOM = 150.0 setBounds( 100 , 100 , 800 , 600 ) isResizable = false for (y in 0 until height) { for (x in 0 until width) { var zx = 0.0 var zy = 0.0 val cX = (x - 400 ) / ZOOM val cY = (y - 300 ) / ZOOM var iter = MAX_ITER while (zx * zx + zy * zy 0 ) { zy = 2.0 * zx * zy + cY img.setRGB(x, y, iter or (iter shl 7 )) override fun paint ( g: Graphics ) { g.drawImage(img, 0 , 0 , this ) fun main ( args: Array ) { Mandelbrot().isVisible = true Lua Key advantage: Lua is a small, simple, fast, embeddable, portable, and flexible language. Key disadvantage: it has been overlooked for 26 years. What's going to change ? now Mandelbrot set sample: local miX, mxX, miY, mxY end end end love.graphics.points( pts ) end end end drawMandelbrot(); love.graphics.setCanvas() end startFractal() end end end end minX = miX; maxX = mxX; minY = miY; maxY = mxY startFractal() end end local maxIterations = 250 local minX, maxX, minY, maxY = - 2.5 , 2.5 , - 2.5 , 2.5 function remap ( x, t1, t2, s1, s2 ) local f = ( x - t1 ) / ( t2 - t1 ) local g = f * ( s2 - s1 ) + s1 return g ; function drawMandelbrot ( ) local pts , a , as , za , b , bs , zb , cnt , clr = {} for j = 0 , hei - 1 do for i = 0 , wid - 1 do a = remap( i, 0 , wid, minX, maxX ) b = remap( j, 0 , hei, minY, maxY ) cnt = 0 ; za = a; zb = b while ( cnt 16 then break end cnt = cnt + 1 if cnt == maxIterations then clr = 0 else clr = remap( cnt, 0 , maxIterations, 0 , 255 ) pts[ 1 ] = { i, j, clr, clr, 0 , 255 } function startFractal ( ) love . graphics . setCanvas ( canvas ) ; love.graphics.clear() love.graphics.setColor( 255 , 255 , 255 ) function love . load ( ) wid , hei = love . graphics . getWidth ( ), love . graphics . getHeight ( ) canvas = love . graphics . newCanvas ( wid, hei ) startFractal ( ) end function love . mousepressed ( x, y, button, istouch ) if button == 1 then startDrag = true ; miX = x ; miY = y else minX = - 2.5 ; maxX = 2.5 ; minY = minX; maxY = maxX startDrag = false function love . mousereleased ( x, y, button, istouch ) if startDrag then local l if x > miX then mxX = x else l = x ; mxX = miX; miX = l if y > miY then mxY = y else l = y; mxY = miY; miY = l miX = remap( miX, 0 , wid, minX, maxX ) mxX = remap( mxX, 0 , wid, minX, maxX ) miY = remap( miY, 0 , hei, minY, maxY ) mxY = remap( mxY, 0 , hei, minY, maxY ) function love . draw ( ) love . graphics . draw ( canvas ) end Pharo Pharo is a modern variant of Smalltalk, a remarkably productive object-oriented language. In fact, Smalltalk is paragon of OOP and has inspired nearly every other OOP language on the planet. In the end, no language does OOP better than Smalltalk. the Pharo is also one of the simplest, most elegant languages in the world. You can actually learn the entire syntax of Smalltalk within 15 minutes! Key advantage: it's super-productive, like 5X more productive! Key disadvantage: it requires a different programming mindset. People are afraid of change. Fractal tree sample (based on Squeak): | p a | p up. p goto: aPoint. p turn: anAngle. p down. ]. ] ]. draw Display restoreAfter: [ Display fillWhite. ] Object subclass: #FractalTree instanceVariableNames : '' classVariableNames : '' poolDictionaries : '' category : 'RosettaCode' "Methods for FractalTree class" tree : aPoint length: aLength angle: anAngle (aLength > 10 ) ifTrue: [ p := Pen new . 5 timesRepeat: [ p go: aLength / 5. p turn: 5. a := anAngle - 30. 3 timesRepeat: [ self tree: p location length: aLength * 0.7 angle: a. a := a + 30. self tree: 700 @ 700 length: 200 angle: 0. "Execute" FractalTree new draw. Rust Rust has gained recognition for its memory safety feature: the borrow checker. This feature practically eliminates the entire class of memory-related programming errors. Rust promises much safer programming. Key advantage: it helps make software much more reliable. Key disadvantage: it's tough to learn, and the borrow checker can be complicated to understand. Mandelbrot set sample: extern crate num_complex; use std::fs::File; use num_complex::Complex; } z = z * z + c; i = t; } } } extern crate image; fn main ( ) { let max_iterations = 256u16; let img_side = 800u32; let cxmin = -2f32; let cxmax = 1f32; let cymin = - 1. 5f32; let cymax = 1. 5f32; let scalex = (cxmax - cxmin) / img_side as f32; let scaley = (cymax - cymin) / img_side as f32; // Create a new ImgBuf let mut imgbuf = image::ImageBuffer:: new (img_side, img_side); // Calculate for each pixel for (x, y, pixel) in imgbuf.enumerate_pixels_mut() { let cx = cxmin + x as f32 * scalex; let cy = cymin + y as f32 * scaley; let c = Complex:: new (cx, cy); let mut z = Complex:: new (0f32, 0f32); let mut i = 0 ; for t in 0. .max_iterations { if z.norm() > 2.0 { break ; *pixel = image::Luma([i as u8]); // Save image let fout = &mut File::create( "fractal.png" ).unwrap(); image::ImageLuma8(imgbuf).save(fout, image ::PNG).unwrap(); TypeScript TypeScript is JavaScript…with benefits. It primarily adds static typing. Compatibility with JavaScript makes it a favourite of front-end web developers because they already know JavaScript and they hardly need to alter their workflow. Key advantage: it's JavaScript, so there's no big change for JavaScript developers. Key disadvantage: it's still JavaScript, so you inherit all of its baggage. Fractal tree sample: ctx.moveTo(x1, y1) ctx.lineTo(x2, y2) } drawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2) } } ctx.beginPath() ctx.closePath() ctx.stroke() // Set up canvas for drawing var canvas: HTMLCanvasElement = document .createElement( 'canvas' ) canvas.width = 600 canvas.height = 500 document .body.appendChild(canvas) var ctx: CanvasRenderingContext2D = canvas.getContext( '2d' ) ctx.fillStyle = '#000' ctx.lineWidth = 1 // constants const degToRad: number = Math .PI / 180.0 const totalDepth: number = 9 /** Helper function that draws a line on the canvas */ function drawLine ( x1: number, y1: number, x2: number, y2: number ): void { /** Draws a branch at the given point and angle and then calls itself twice */ function drawTree ( x1: number, y1: number, angle: number, depth: number ): void { if (depth !== 0 ) { let x2: number = x1 + ( Math .cos(angle * degToRad) * depth * 10.0 ) let y2: number = y1 + ( Math .sin(angle * degToRad) * depth * 10.0 ) drawTree(x2, y2, angle - 20 , depth - 1 ) drawTree(x2, y2, angle + 20 , depth - 1 ) // actual drawing of tree drawTree( 300 , 500 , - 90 , totalDepth) WebAssembly WebAssembly is a dark horse. In the next decade or so, it could possibly spawn a number of languages that rise to the top. WebAssembly is only a compilation target, but there’s no reason it couldn’t spread far beyond the web domain. What WebAssembly-based language(s) could rise to the top? It’s anybody’s guess.