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It's not just for people who want to learn more about crypto and blockchain but for anyone considering becoming a developer. In the past few years, the demand for blockchain developers has increased. The high salaries that these developers command are a direct result of this. In 2023 the average blockchain developer is expected to earn $150,000 to $175,000 a year. Many entry-level positions start above $100,000.
If you plan to be a dev, you may need to learn (or retrain) blockchain languages. You'll have to decide quickly about which language you will learn and which you won't. Blockchain executives, product managers, and industry leaders, in addition to programmers of blockchain, need to decide which programming languages to use accurately. This can be a very important decision. Let's dive into the most popular blockchain programming languages, their workings, and the best times to use them.
1. Solidity
Unsurprisingly, Solidity is often ranked first on lists of top blockchain programming languages. Solidity is often regarded as the language to learn for developers since it is the language most commonly used for creating smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum Blockchain, the blockchain that, despite increased competition, has the largest number of smart contract enabled blockchains. Many people estimate around 200,000 Solidity developers on the market, but many may have little real-world knowledge. There are only 3,000-4,000 Ethereum developers who use Solidity regularly.
Solidity allows programming for Ethereum Layer-2s such as Polygon, Arbitrum Loopring Immutable X Optimism Boba and more. Strength is also used in private blockchain projects such as Hyperledger.
Solidity is an object-oriented language created by the co-founder of Ethereum, in August 2014, due to a group inspired by traditional languages like C++, JavaScript and Powershell. The similarity of Solidity with these languages can be a great benefit to new developers. They may find it more intuitive to learn.
Solidity's instructions are also relatively simple and flexible. Solidity's main disadvantage is its limited use for general applications. At the same time, JavaScript and Python can be applied to all sorts of different types of blockchain development.
Solidity has several technical features, including:
- Support for hierarchical image
- JavaScript Infrastructures, Debuggers and Other Tools are Available.
- Use of class and object member variables
- Constructions that support inheritance features
- The functionality of the Application Binary Interface (ABI).
- Returns of various types
- Typography
- Accurate precision
Solidity supports the following data types:
- String: Can be indicated by single quotes or double quotations.
- Integer: Developers can sign or unsign values of integers in Solidity. Solidity supports exceptions at runtime and also the keywords 'uint8' and 'uint256'.
- Array: Solidity has a syntax that is similar to other OOP languages. Solidity can support multidimensional arrays and single-dimensional arrays.
- Boolean: The Boolean type results in 1 when the condition is true and 0 when it's false.
- Modifier: Before executing the smart contract code, a modifier often checks that there are rational contract conditions.
2. Python
Python was developed in 1991 and is now one of the most widely used programming languages. It's not surprising that blockchain developers use it more often. Python is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. It can be used to create websites and software, analyze data and develop other applications.
Python's open-source nature and the vast amount of documentation and support provided by current and former developers are two of its major advantages. Even beginning programmers can solve complicated problems with the help of public Python libraries, plug-ins and other resources. Python's Simplicity and elegance make it a great choice for developers who don't need to write complex or long code.
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It is important to note that Python, as an interpreted programming language, was not designed specifically for cryptocurrency or blockchain development. Complex cryptography poses some challenges. Python, like Solidity, can be used to create smart contracts for Hyperledger, Neo, and other EVM-compatible blockchains.
Python has many technical advantages for Blockchain programming.
- Most efficient when prototyping.
- Support for Open Source.
- Access to dynamic architecture.
- The ideal solution for the base as well as scripting.
3. C++
C++ was created by Bjarne Strostrup in 1985 and is one of the most widely used general-purpose languages. C++, unlike Solidity or Python, which only support object-oriented programming, C++ supports many different types of methodologies, including procedural, object-oriented and functional. C++ can be used for many purposes, including game, browser, and operating system development. C++ was also used for the development of Bitcoin, Litecoin and Stellar.
Blockchain development has many benefits, including using Standard Template Library, ease of customization and speed. It also offers high performance, transparency, and computational efficiency. As with any language, it has its drawbacks. These include a higher barrier of entry, no garbage-collection feature and redundancy in code.
C++ is also useful for developing blockchain applications.
- Different data structures and their code hiding
- Memory control and CPU management: Achieve efficiency
- Multithreading Features
- Absorption
- Performance increases from polymorphism at compile time
- Encapsulation
4. Move/Move the VM
The Move is an open-source stack-based programming language that was originally developed by Facebook, now Meta, to create safe smart contracts on their Diem Blockchain and Stablecoin Payment System. The project was never successful due to regulatory concerns, but the language developed from it offers significant benefits for new and experienced developers. It can be hard to Move scripts outside of the blockchain. Each module requires an environment, account management, and compile-publishing.
Flexibility: Every transaction contains a script. The transaction scripts allow you to call procedures and make calls within a module.
Safety: Safety enforces safety in Move by requiring that three components be examined -- memory, resources and types.
Verifiability: Move allows on-chain validation for each safety property. Move uses off-chain, static verification tools to reinforce safety. This can reduce the complexity of verification processes on-chain.
5. C#
C# was created in 2000 by Microsoft programmer Anders Hejlsberg. A closed-source programming language, C#, was soon approved by international standard organizations such as EMCA, ISO, and ANSI. C# became open-source in 2004 thanks to the Mono Project, which included a cross-platform compiler and runtime environment.
C# is open source, so developers can create code that runs on multiple platforms, including Mac OS, Windows, Linux and Android. C #'s similarity with Java and C++ makes it easy for blockchain developers. C#, like Solidity, Python and C++, offers object-oriented programing, which improves overall performance in developing smart contracts or blockchain app development services. C# also provides component-oriented programming, which offers additional flexibility.
C# is used in some of the biggest blockchain projects, including the NEO Blockchain, a decentralized open-source blockchain and platform for decentralized applications, and Stratis. Stratis is a proof-of-stake blockchain network that allows developers to work with C# rather than languages such as Solidity, which can take ages to master.
The other elements of C# are:
- Typography
- Strong Typing
- Programming with a lexically defined scope.
- Declarative and Imperative Programming.
- Programming for functional and generic purposes.
6. Vyper
Vyper is a Python-based contract-oriented language for blockchains. It is designed to help programmers create smart contracts compatible with Ethereum or Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVM). Vyper, similar to Solidity, is the second most popular language for smart contracts in the world. Vyper aims to make smart contracts more secure, accurate and readable while limiting developers' ability to create malicious code.
Vyper is a smart contract language designed to solve some problems associated with writing contracts in Solidity. According to recent research, smart contracts created in other blockchain languages may have major flaws or be unpredictable. Vyper tries to solve these issues by limiting developers' freedom to intentionally or inadvertently create suicidal and greedy smart contracts and posthumous ones.
Vyper has several technical features:
- Strong Typing
- Compiler code that is easy to understand.
- The Decidability function allows calculating a precise upper limit for gas—consumption when calling any Vyper functions.
- Limitation of support to pure functions.
- Support for decimal and signed integers.
- Checking for bounds and overflow when accessing arrays or performing arithmetic.
- Support for decimal and signed integers.
7. Simplicity
Simplicity, a high-level, combinator-based blockchain programming language, was developed by Russell O'Connor of Blockstream and released in November 2017. Simplicity is a programming language based on Ivy that focuses on writing human-readable codes. Simplicity, unlike other blockchain programming languages, is intended to be used for Bitcoin and Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible blockchains.
Simplicity focuses specifically on reducing complexity in programming Bitcoin Script. It is designed to improve the speed and capacity of blockchain development. The Elements Platform, an open-source Blockchain platform with sidechain functionality, is compatible with this language. Simplicity aims to eliminate the dilemmas that developers face when creating either a complicated but unreliable contract or a simpler yet more reliable one.
Simplicity benefits from the formal semantics of Coq, the general-purpose software proof assistant. It also uses the operational semantics defined by the Bit Machine (an abstract machine) to measure how many resources it takes to program something in Simplicity.
Simplicity has many technical features and benefits:
- There are no loops or recursion
- Formal denotational semantics
- Operational semantics
- Complete Turning
- Static analysis is possible to determine upper limits on computing resources before execution
- Improves privacy and reduces storage and bandwidth requirements
- Eliminating unused codes at redemption
- Any finitary function can be expressed
- It is easier for other parties to a smart contract to check the boundaries of the contract.
8. Rholang
Rholang, an open-source language for functional blockchain programming, was developed by Rhcain CEO Greg Meredith and a programmer in 2018. The Rholang language is designed to improve reliability, speed and formal process orchestration. It is the most widely used functional programming language in blockchain development. Rholang, unlike languages such as C++ and Python, is object-oriented, evaluating a program in terms of functions. It then solves them sequentially. Rholang uses the Chain computer, which has been algorithmically restricted to follow specific rules to improve accuracy and prevent mistakes and undesirable behavior.
The code for the Rhchain project is written in Scala. A high-level programming language called Scala mixes functional and object-oriented programming. Rchain also uses DAGs to improve its scalability. DAGs a distributed ledger (DLT), which can be viewed as both a rival and an enabler to current blockchain technology. Hedera Hashgraph, the most well-known DAG project, is a DLT that does not use Rholang.
The technical components of Rholang are:
- Asynchronous languages are completely asynchronous.
- Concurrency built-in
- The global Chain network is proposing smart contracts.
- The ability to share the validator.
- The runtime engine has been written in Scala, a type-safe language.
- Namespaces are the boundaries of interaction types.
- A contract's names are notified asynchronously.
- Structure of Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), Scalable.
9. LLL
LLL is an Ethereum-specific lower-level blockchain programming language. This was the first language for Ethereum's smart contracts. The speech was created to help users better use limited resources on the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
LLL stands for Low-Level Lisplike Language, a code that provides assembly instructions similar to Lisp for the Ethereum Virtual Machine. LLL is still influential but has been significantly less used in the last few years than Solidity. Open-source updates for LLL and documentation have also become more sparse.
10. Go/Golang
Golang is also known as a statically-typed compiled language. It was developed by Google's Ken Thompson, Rob Pike and Robert Griesemer in 2007. It is easier for those familiar with C#, C++ or JavaScript to pick up Go, but it can be challenging for others. Go has been designed to offer Python and JavaScript many benefits, such as speed, flexibility and scalability. Go's main advantage is that there are currently more than 800,000.
Go is used in many blockchain projects, including Hyperledger Fabric (an open-source, private blockchain) and Go-Ethereum (an open-source, Go-based tool created by the Ethereum Community to create Ethereum source code).
Go is a technical language that includes:
- Structure Typing
- Garbage Collection
- Concurrency in the CSP style
- Memory Safety
- The Runtime Efficiency (similar to C).
- Multi-processing and high-performance networking
11. Ruby
Ruby is an all-purpose high-level language developed by Yukihiro Matsumoto in 1995. Ruby is a high-level programming language developed in 1995 by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto. It supports multiple paradigms such as procedural, object-oriented and functional programming to simplify the language. Ruby uses dynamic typing, garbage collection, and just-in-time compilation. Ruby's ability to integrate third-party open-source APIs and plug-ins is a major advantage.
12. CX
CX is an interpretable and compilable general-purpose language for blockchains inspired by Golang. It was developed in 2018 by the blockchain project Skycoin. CX was designed specifically to address specific challenges within the Skycoin Project that could not be solved with other blockchain programming languages.
The Skycoin project, launched in 2013, is a blockchain project focused on developing a new, censorship-resistant, global, and decentralized internet marketplace where users pay independent network service providers in cryptocurrency for internet access and other asp .net development services.
CX is a promising language but is only widely used in the Skycoin ecosystem. Its compatibility with other blockchains and its usability is, therefore, still being determined. CX can still be very flexible and used to build desktop apps and websites.
CX is useful for creating smart contracts and can be used to develop more complex, decentralized blockchain programs. CX allows the creation of CX chains that are independent of each other. These blockchains contain CX programs and can be updated. The chains separate CX into transaction code and code for the program. Each transaction is stored on a blockchain and updates the code.
The CX language has several technical elements:
- Simple error control process.
- Use of arrays and pointers.
- Assembles over Go.
- It is not necessary to execute discretionary code.
- Integrates efficiently with OpenGL.
- Loops and packages are also included as standard features.
- GPUs are a very efficient way to use your GPU capacity.
13. Rust
Rust was developed in 2006 by Gradon Hoare, then a Mozilla developer, and released for the first time in 2010. It is one of the newest but most powerful blockchain programming languages. A general-purpose programming language called Rust places a strong emphasis on concurrency, type safety, and memory security.
Many major companies have used it, including Toyota, Dropbox and Discord. Amazon's best web development company and Mozilla have also adopted the language.
Rust was designed to help developers create high-performance apps while protecting them from dangerous programming errors. The language is also easy to document, which facilitates information sharing. This has led to its increasing popularity with developers across industries. Rust has been criticized for being too wordy and having issues with the editor.
Rust's high-level application security is perfect for the blockchain. This is why the language has become so popular. The language is also used to program internet browsers, operating systems and cybersecurity software.
Rust, the most popular programming language in the blockchain world, is used for many major projects. These include the growing Solana blockchain and Polkadot ecosystems, Hyperledger Sawtooth - a Hyperledger framework that allows private blockchains to be developed by enterprises - and privacy coins Zcash or MobileCoin.
Some of the Rust technical elements include:
- Type strongly and statically
- There is no garbage collector
- Type polymorphism can be achieved using generic functions
- It uses an ownership system whereby each value is assigned a unique owner
- Haskell's type classes inspired the concept of traits.
- Static dispatch is used to implement Traits
14. Haskell
Haskell was created in 1990 due to the FCPA conference (Functional Programming Languages and Computer Architecture) in 1987, where a committee had been formed to develop a language that would address problems with other programming languages at the time.
Haskell, which is statically typed and purely functional, has lazy evaluation. The lazy evaluation method evaluates an expression only when its exact value needs to be known. This can allow for more rapid prototyping and easier implementations. The Glasgow Haskell Compiler is Haskell's native code compiler.
Haskell ranked 28th in the list of most popular programming languages worldwide, according to a May 2021 report. Haskell has also become popular with academics and mathematics because it is often suited to their specialized programming requirements.
Haskell, in the blockchain world and the cryptocurrency industry, is most well-known as one of the main programming languages used by the Cardano Blockchain. Cardano nodes, smart contracts, and wallets are all built on Haskell. Haskell is a great language for developing blockchains because it focuses on immutable data and functions. This increases the code's reliability.
Haskell has the following features:
- Memory Safety
- Static types
- Purity
- Lazy evaluation
- List comprehension
- Pattern Matching
- Lambda expression
- Type polymorphism and class classes.
- Specifications that are open and published with many implementations.
15. Plutus
Plutus, a Turing complete programming language in Haskell, was designed specifically for the Cardano Blockchain. Cardano's official documentation states that the language "draws on modern language research to provide a secure, full-stack, programming environment built upon Haskell, which is the leading pure-functional programming language."
Plutus smart contracts use both on-chain (on-chain) and off-chain (off-chain) code. Off-chain codes are written using the Plutus Application Framework. The GHC compiles the on-chain code. The Plutus Toolchain divides the code into on-chain and off-chain for deployment.
Plutus enables Cardano's UTXO Accounting Model, just as Bitcoin's C++ enables UTXO. This model involves inputs and outputs. Inputs are classified as unspent outputs of prior transactions to prevent double-spending. The results are organized by a public key and several tokens.
16. JavaScript
As of 2022, 98% of all websites use JavaScript. JavaScript (JS) is a just-in-time compiled high-level programming language. It was developed originally from JScript in 1996 and released. Javascript, which is widely used in web design, can also be found being developed for various other applications.
JavaScript offers several advantages for blockchain developers. These include easier scalability and no integration required. It also allows them to utilize multiple frameworks, including Node.js. JavaScript is a popular language for developing blockchain applications. This will enable developers to enter the market faster and easier, as they are familiar with it.
Some of the JavaScript technical features include:
- Conforms to ECMAScript standards
- Dynamic Typing
- Enjoy first-class services
- Object orientation based on prototypes
- Functional, event-driven or imperative programming is supported.
- APIs are available for dates, text, regular expressions, and standard data structures.
JavaScript and Java are not identical, but they share many similarities.
17. Java
Java is an object-oriented, general-purpose programming language developed in 1991 by Patrick Naughton and Mike Sheridan. Sun Microsystems launched it in 1996. It's a high-level class-based and object-oriented, all-purpose programming language. Java is one of the top three languages in the world and is used to develop Android apps. It has approximately 9 million developers.
Java's powerful API includes classes, packages and interfaces. This allows developers to be more productive with less information. Java can also be ported onto different platforms as it uses the Java Virtual Machine.
Hyperledger Fabric is one of the most popular blockchain platforms and uses Java as its main programming language. Others include IOTA, NEO and NEM.
Java has many technical features that are ideal for blockchain development.
- Library available
- Support for OOP Methodology
- Memory cleaning is easy
18. Erlang
Erlang is a functional, general-purpose programming language that Ericsson developed in the 1980s as proprietary software. It was then released in 1988 as open-source, free software. Ericsson's OTP unit continues to support Erlang, its Open Telecom Platform, which includes components ready for use, the Erlang Runtime System, and Erlang design principles.
Erlang and its Runtime System are designed to program systems that include:
- Fault-tolerant
- Distributed
- You can have applications available 24/7.
- Hot swapping is allowed, allowing code to be changed without stopping the system
- Use a real-time soft system
Erlang is a powerful language for developers of blockchain applications.
- The Immutability of the Law
- The inherent fault tolerance
- Scalability is improved
- Backend Facility of Significant Size
Aeternity is currently the only large-scale blockchain that uses Erlang. This could present a problem for developers looking to master other blockchain programming languages. Erlang is a language that is not popular among blockchain programmers. Still, its presence in traditional software could make it one of the fastest-growing languages. Erlang, a programming language, is used primarily by companies such as Ericsson and Nortel to create WhatsApp. Other major companies, like Goldman Sachs, Nintendo and Samsung, use it.
19. SQL
SQL is an industry-specific programming language used to program databases and structured information. SQL was designed in the 1970s by IBM and released commercially by Relational Software, now Oracle Corporation, in 1979. SQL can be used to program databases to communicate efficiently and easily, particularly when working with structured data.
SQL has been popular with traditional developers for a long time. Still, it is only now becoming more popular among blockchain developers. Aergo is the most popular blockchain project that uses SQL. It's "an open-source hybrid blockchain smart contracts platform for decentralized apps."
The SQL language has many functions.
- Data query
- Data manipulation
- Access control
- Data definition
It is also important to note that SQL offers programmers a number of major statement types, including data query languages (DQL), data manipulation languages (DML), data control dialects (DCL), data definition languages (DDL), as well as a database control languages.
20. Bitcoin Scripting Language/Bitcoin Script
Bitcoin Script is a programming language that uses stacks to process transactions. It's also known as Bitcoin Scripting Language, or "Script". It was developed by Satoshi or a group of individuals before or during 2008.
Bitcoin Script focuses on informing the Bitcoin core software about the UXTO functions (unspent transactions output), which prevent double-spending and decide who gets funds and how much money can be spent on each transaction. It also determines how the recipients of funds gain access to their Bitcoin. Bitcoin Script needs some logical features, like loops, to be completed.
Bitcoin Core is written in other programming languages (not Bitcoin Script). Bitcoin Core is also written in non-Bitcoin Script programming languages. C++ was the first, followed by Java, Go and Python. Bitcoin Script is implemented in the language used to create the software. Bitcoin Script, such as that found in C++-written Bitcoin applications, is instead executed using C++.
21. Obsidian
Obsidian, a smart contract language originally designed for Hyperledger Fabric's platform, is a brand-new programming language. Obsidian is being added to the Ethereum Blockchain by the development team in collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation. Obsidian, as it stands now, is under development. It has yet to be ready to be used by the general public. Obsidian, a state-oriented language, incorporates linear type, improving safety and preventing accidental resource loss, such as tokens or cryptocurrency.
22. PHP
PHP, released in 1995 (Hypertext preprocessor), is another language that can be used to create Blockchain solutions. The PHP programming language is used for developing blockchain solutions with varying levels of complexity. Its open-source features, and large community have a ripple effect.
23. Lua
It is also a scripting language used for game development. Lua has a lot of potential within the blockchain sector. Lua's speed is one of its main benefits, making it perfect for decentralized applications requiring fast processing.
Binance, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, has used Lua in its many blockchain projects. Lua is used for creating smart contracts, custom solutions and blockchains.
24. Elm
Elm is a functional, domain-specific language designed to create web-browser-based graphic user interfaces. The language is compatible with JavaScript and can be used to develop error-free UIs for blockchain app development company. Elm is available for all platforms except Android and iOS.
25. Swift
Apple developed it in July 2010 to prevent iOS developers from using Objective-C. Swift has contributed significantly to Apple iPhone's market share. It is putting Android in competition.
Conclusion
There are many options for blockchain programming languages. Both projects and developers have a wide range of choices, and the list is growing. There's no doubt that many of the traditional programming languages like Java, JavaScript and Python are fundamental for blockchain programming.
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However, individual blockchain projects have developed unique languages they feel better suit their needs. It can have a positive impact on customization and even security. However, hiring enough developers may take a lot of work since they must learn a new language quickly.
