Modern information technology leaders perform a variety of tasks, many of which fall outside of the technical realm due to the convergence of business and technology. These executives, more often than not, find themselves sitting in the boardroom rather than staring at computer screens. However, most work to maintain the computational skill sets that got them there, as enterprise infrastructure continues to expand and grow in complexity. This normally involves brushing up on burgeoning coding languages poised to make an impact in the IT world.
This task may seem like an odd use of time, especially for chief information officers or some similarly influential individuals. Why spend so much energy burnishing core programming competencies when more high-level tasks are at hand? Technologist Paul Ford offered a concise, yet powerful answer in an article for Bloomberg Businessweek.
“If coders don’t run the world, they run the things that run the world,” Ford wrote.
Of course, many options exist when it comes to digital lexicon. In fact, experts estimate more than 250 coding languages are available today, according to DZone. IT leaders must wade through the many options and pinpoint those with the highest potential for real-world application. Here are five essential languages every CIO should know:
SQL
Databases form the backbone of mission-critical IT infrastructure, and Structured English Query Language – referred to colloquially as SQL – constitutes the structure of most modern databases. For this reason, Coding Dojo ranked SQL as the most in-demand programming language of 2017. However, SQL is not some newfangled creation. The language has been around for decades.
In 1970, computing giant IBM developed SQL in response to the rise of a digital storage approach called the “relational database management system model”, according to Oracle. Nine years later, Relational Software Incorporated, which later evolved into Oracle, released the first commercial version of SQL. In the years since, SQL has become the standard language used in the RDBMS model, which allows users to organize data into highly accessible, moveable tables, according to TechTarget.
MySQL and Microsoft SQL are the most popular relational database solutions on the market and buttress the backend of millions of applications. In recent years, some organizations, including Google and Facebook, have embraced the SQL alternative NoSQL, as reported by Wired. However, this language, which makes it easier to manage unstructured data, has not caught on in the mainstream, as most firms still work primarily with structure information and do not need to delve into the dark corners of their systems.
Google Go
In 2009, the developers at Google released an experimental new language called Go, TechCrunch reported. The digital dialect, the product of two years of work, was designed to function dynamically like Java or Python while demonstrating the sure-footedness of C or C+, according to its creators. In the ensuing years, developers began using Google Go in earnest, creating critical IT infrastructure such as the leading containerization solution Docker, ZDNet reported. Google Go really took off in 2016, surging past 40 other languages on the Tiobe Index, which ranks the most-used IT lexicon. Tiobe went on to name Google Go the programming language of the year for 2016.
“The main drivers behind Go’s success are its ease of learning and pragmatic nature,” representatives from the software evaluation site explained. “It is not about theoretical concepts such as virtual inheritance and monads but about hands-on experience.”
The language is likely to experience more success over the years to come, as it is a workable alternative to Java, which, while still incredibly popular, is at the center of a large number of cyberattacks and data leaks.
Kotlin
Programmers at the Czech software firm JetBrains created Kotlin in 2010, according to Wired. However, the developers did not intend to package and sell the language. Instead, they used Kotlin to simplify their architecting operations.
The company, which specializes in application and project development software, used Java for roughly 70 percent of its products. Its reliance on the language led to long production lead times, as programmers had to write large quantities of code while also dealing with the various headaches that come along with using a legacy dialect like Java. The staff at JetBrains needed to switch to a modern alternative but few worked with existing applications coded in Java.
With this in mind, the developers at the organization crafted Kotlin, which accelerated the development process but still integrated with Java-based applications. In 2011, the firm, realizing the language could be of use to developers everywhere, released a public preview. Well-known engineer Jake Wharton, who writes code for the payment company Square, immediately embraced Kotlin and began employing it consistently. He also published an internal brief at Square explaining why the company should officially adopt the language. This document went public in 2015, at which point other developers – especially those working on Android applications – caught on.
Google solidified Kotlin’s place in the programming world earlier in 2017, when it announced that future Android applications would officially support the language, The Verge reported.
Swift
Like Google Go, Swift originated from the IT department at a major technology company, according to TechRepublic. Developers at Apple began building Swift back in 2010 as a faster, more secure replacement for Objective C. Indeed, the end product ran twice as fast as the aforementioned language and bested Python more than eight times over.
Apple officially debuted Swift to literal fanfare at its annual World Wide Developers Conference in 2014, declaring it the ideal option developers working on iOS and Mac OS applications, Wired reported.
“It could lower the barrier to entry for Apple developers,” developer and conference attendee Caylan Larson told the magazine. “It could open a lot of new doors for a lot of people.”
In the years since, the technology company has continued to improve Swift. In addition to implementing multiple updates, Apple has open sourced the language, meaning anyone and everyone can now use it to develop applications. Swift ranked 11th on the Tiobe Index in August 2017, having gained three spots since January. Why has it gained so much momentum? For one, Apple products and applications continue to find great success in the marketplace, incentivizing developers to learn Swift. Additionally, programming experts consider it one of the easier programming languages to pick up, meaning it is likely to gain momentum as burgeoning developers use it as their base dialect – just as Larson and others suspected.
JavaScript
Netscape Communications founder Marc Andreessen and programmer Brendan Eich conceived and crafted JavaScript between May and December 1995, according to DZone. The two men wanted to create a web development language that would enrich the user experience by lending life, in the form of animation and interactive modules, to the largely static, HTML-based early internet. Additionally, they sought to create a companion to the enterprise-centered Java – a more vibrant language that might draw in amateur coders and designers who wanted to not only create workable web pages but also explore new territory through smaller client-side creations.
Eich, whom many came to call the Father of JavaScript, created the legendary lexicon in haste, rushing to meet the deadline for a deal with Sun Microsystems. In December 1995, the two companies released Java and JavaScript for use on Netscape. Of course, the language would go on to see widespread usage, transforming into a programming mainstay. Today, more than 94 percent of all web pages feature JavaScript, according to data from W3Techs.
In the more than 22 years since Eich rolled out the first iteration of JavaScript, the dialect has continued to evolve. In 2009, programmer Ryan Dahl developed Node.js, a runtime environment for executing the language server-side, Wired reported. This development has greatly expanded the influence of JavaScript and helped fuel wider movements in the enterprise programming community, most notably, the progression of DevOps, according to ZDNet.
“It is moving beyond being simply an application platform, and beginning to be used for rapid experimentation with corporate data, application modernization and [Internet of Things] solutions,” Mark Hinkle, executive director for the Node.js foundation, told the publication.
It also changed the way developers thought about JavaScript, opening minds and paving the way for innovations like Electron, a burgeoning software platform that allows programmers to use JavaScript, HTML, CSS and other web-based languages to construct desktop applications.
Sustaining continued growth
IT leaders who invest in sharpening their technical skills and learning programming languages such as those mentioned above can set both themselves and their organizations up for future success. Of course, the same methodology also comes in handy for soft skills development. Ladder climbers in the IT space must also hone their management competencies, especially as the gap between technology and business development closes.
The online Master of Science in Management Information Systems program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham can help rising IT professionals do just that. The MS MIS program at UAB features six core courses, including IT Governance and Management, Information Security Management, and Technology-Based Project Management. It also includes two concentrations in Business Analytics and Cyber Security Management.
Do you want to further develop your skill set and move up in the IT world? Consider the online MS MIS program at UAB. Contact an enrollment advisor today to learn more.
Recommended readings:
Accreditation and Why it Matters for an Online MBA Program
Using LinkedIn to Build Your Personal Brand
Sources:
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2. https://www.zdnet.com/article/googles-go-beats-java-c-python-to-programming-language-of-the-year-crown/
3. https://www.infoworld.com/article/3154313/application-development/11-predictions-for-the-future-of-programming.html
4. https://dzone.com/articles/big-list-256-programming
5. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/
6. https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/09/the-future-of-enterprise-data-rdbms-will-be-there/
7. https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B12037_01/server.101/b10759/intro001.htm
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11. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15654988/google-jet-brains-kotlin-programming-language-android-development-io-2017
12. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/apples-swift-programming-language-the-smart-persons-guide/
13. https://www.wired.com/2014/06/apple-swift-language/
14. https://dzone.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-javascript
15. https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-javascript/all/all
16. https://www.wired.com/2016/05/javascript-conquered-web-now-taking-desktop/