The programming languages and frameworks trend for 2016
seems to be heading more frontend development over backend development. Below
is just a simplified list of what you should take note of and consider
improving your knowledge on.
Languages and Platforms
PHP 7 is the latest version of PHP. Big websites like
Facebook, Google and Apple use PHP. PHP 7 is also two times faster than the
previous version 5.6 - this will have a huge improvement on CMS systems like
WordPress and Drupal.
JavaScript also has a new update called ES2015 (previously
ES5). Some incredible sites that use JavaScript are Lost Worlds Fairs and
Cascade Brewery Co.
Python 3.5 was released in 2015 with some juicy features
like Asyncio. Nearly all libraries are available for Python 3 so it might be a
good time to upgrade your legacy code base now.
Node.js has the largest ecosystem of open source libraries
in the world. Node.js is always a good study choice and with its long term
support release, it provides added stability going forward. LinkedIn and
Walmart use some aspects of Node.js on their websites.
Swift 2 was released earlier this year and it's growing
rapidly (it's the fastest growing programming language in history!). It's open
source and it has already been ported on Linux which means that it is now
possible to build backends and server side software. It's built by Apple (not
the granny smith apple) and they have big plans for it so it would be good to
take note of it as the popularity grows.
HTML5 is last and certainly not the least. It's the one you
need to watch out for! YouTube switched from Flash to HTML5 this year and Adobe
Animate's exports are now defaulted to HTML5. It's also one of the fastest
growing job trends on indeed.com which shows its popularity. HTML5 is probably
one of the best long term languages to study within the next 3 years. Some
sites that make use of HTML5 are Ford, Peugeot and Lacoste - they are really
cool.
Frontend Frameworks (CSS Frameworks)
These complete frameworks offer features like icons and
other reusable components for navigation, sets of forms, styled-typography,
buttons, popovers, alerts and more.
Bootstrap has become very popular in 2015 and this
popularity is only going to increase in 2016 as it is turning into a web
development standard. Version 4 is coming out soon and it will integrate with
SASS. It's quite easy to learn and it comes with some neat extensions and
examples too.
Foundation is an alternative to Bootstrap. In 2015 they
launched Version 6, which focuses on modularity so that you can only include
the pieces that you need for a faster loading time and it's also built with
SASS.
Skeleton is a sexy (there's no other word to explain it)
boilerplate for responsive, mobile-friendly development. Skeleton is a small
collection of CSS files that help you to develop sites quickly and beautifully
that look incredible on all screen sizes.
Backend Frameworks
Backend frameworks or application layers is the 'brain' of
the website. It's how the website operates and the logic behind it. You are
developing the 'brain' whereas in Frontend, you are creating the 'face'.
Depending on which language you prefer, there are plenty of
choices. Below is a list of a few languages with some of their frameworks:
PHP: Symfony, Zend, Laravel, Slim, Codeigniter and CakePHP
Node.js: Express, Hapi, Sails.js and Total.js
JavaScript: Angular.js, Vue.js, Polymer, React and Ember.js
Ruby: Rails and Sinatra
Java: Play, Spring and Spark
Python: Django and Flask
Frameworks can be very useful, but it doesn't necessarily
mean that it will be useful for you. Ultimately, it is the developer's decision
on whether or not to use a framework. This will depend on several factors
depending on what you want to achieve. Go through each framework and see if it
aligns with what you want to achieve before you start utilizing it.
CMS (Content Management Systems)
This article wouldn't be complete without mentioning 2
popular CMSs like WordPress and Drupal. Both are written in PHP and with the
new PHP 7 release, it's even faster.
WordPress has evolved from a dry blogging CMS to a
fully-fledged CMS/Framework with plugins that make almost anything possible.
Thousands of developers make a living as a WordPress developer by creating
premium themes or plugins. You can also use WordPress as a REST API backend.
Drupal 8 was released in 2015. It makes use of Symfony 2,
Composer packages and the Twig templating engine. A few websites that are run
on Drupal are: Johnson & Johnson, BBC Store and World Economic Forum.
Drupal is ideal for content heavy websites.
If you are in doubt about what to spend time studying in
2016, we've made a list of 5 frameworks we believe you should invest your time
in:
Bootstrap
Angular.js
Ruby on Rails
HTML5
Laravel
As a 6th recommendation, we recommend that you add Git to
your list of what to learn in 2016. It's growing like crazy and it's only going
to grow in popularity. Companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and
LinkedIn make use of Git.
This is just a short summary of programming languages and
frameworks we think you should learn in 2016. Of course there are hundreds of
other languages and frameworks out there, but I hope this was of value to you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9269499