Top 5 Programming languages for Mobile App Development in 2022

Let's make sure you are in the right place. If truly you want to be a mobile app developer in 2022, and you are not sure which programming language to choose for your mobile app development career, then you are reading the right article at the right place. Also, you don't have to be an expert in software development to choose a language for your programming career, you just have to know your way around your computer and little or no basics of programming.

 As much as the demand for mobile apps keeps growing, so will the demand for mobile application developers keeps skyrocketing. People with great skills in Android and iOS development are in great demand as small and large-scale companies are hiring people to build their mobile apps. Mobile app development has been a lucrative career since the days of Nokia but became so popular and even better in demand when Android and iOS came.

And Yes! there are so many programming languages out there, but not all of them are suitable for mobile app development. For instance, when accessing device sensors as one of the features of your app, there are programming languages like Java that can access device hardware very well while some don't. And that's why choosing the right programming language for your mobile app is so crucial.

In addition, other programming languages give room for cross-platform mobile app development. And that means, building your mobile app with one programming language while targeting two or more platforms or operating systems using a single codebase. It can be so important and helpful because you don't need to know so many programming languages to build an app and it will be easy to maintain in the future.

I know you are already in a hurry to scroll down to know what programming languages are on the list. So let's dive right into it!

Programming Languages For Mobile App Development

Now that, you have basic ideas of the different choices available to you as a mobile app developer, let’s dive deeper and find out more about which programming language is best for Mobile app development and where to get started with some courses.

1. Java

Java is a programming language many refer to as the "Write Once Run Anywhere" language. It's a general-purpose, strongly-typed, powerful, popular and effective programming language with lots of great demand for job and career growth. It's also important to know that Java is primarily a server-side programming language and is used for building very robust backend servers. 

The list of what you can build using Java is not exhaustive. Java can also be used to build very powerful large-scale applications, desktop applications using the JavaFX or Java Swing, and Android apps. At the core of the Android operating system is Java, and because of that Java can be used to talk to all the hardware features of an Android mobile phone like the sensors, etc.

There are a lot of benefits one can get from learning to develop apps using the Java programming language. As a developer, not only can you develop very good and lightweight Android apps but also become a full-stack developer by building backend services in Java.

If you want to learn how to program using Java and need a resource that you will get started with, then The Complete Java MasterClass is an excellent place to start; it is both a comprehensive and up-to-date resource to learn Java in depth.

2. C#

C# is an object-oriented, strongly-typed, and general-purpose programming language developed by Microsoft as part of its dot NET languages. It's used to build almost any application you can think of. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to C#, pretty much what you can think of can be developed using C# except for things it was not built to do.

C# is so powerful that it can be used to build dynamic websites like Stackoverflow (Of course it was built using C#) using the ASP.NET Core, you can as well build desktop apps using WinForms or WPF, cross-platform mobile apps, etc. You can also create apps for wearables like watches.

Therefore, if you want to build a native mobile application with .NET and C#, then there is no better choice than Xamarin, Xamarin Forms, or .NET MAUI. Xamarin is a tried and tested platform and great for C# and .NET developers who want to get into mobile application development. 

Again, by using Xamarin, you can build native Android, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, macOS, and Windows apps using .NET with native API access. If you want to learn mobile app development in 2022 and looking for resources, I suggest you check out this Xamarin Forms: Build Native Cross-Platform Apps using C# course by Mosh Hamedani on Udemy.

3. Dart

Dart is an open-source, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language developed by Google in 2011. No doubt, Dart is one of the descendants of the C programming language family, Dart uses the C-styled syntaxes and most of its features are heavily influenced by the C programming language.

As a beginner in mobile app development, you may be wondering where Dart programming is used and what it can do. Well, Dart can be used to develop both client-side and server-side web development. And because of its cross-platform nature, it can be used to build native mobile apps for Android and iOS.

One of the reasons you might want to consider Dart for your mobile app development journey is because of the framework called Flutter. Flutter is one of the newest mobile app development frameworks released by Google and it makes the development of cross-platform apps super easy and fast with a great user interface and animations. Therefore, if you want to learn Flutter, the Dart programming language is the way to go.

There are some pros and cons of the Dart programming language:

Pros

• Easy to learn when you are used to C-style syntax
• Code can be shared across the web and mobile apps (One codebase)
• Super friendly and helpful community

Cons

• Many subs and generic domain packages might need to be written to support the core domain
• Backend (API/Server) focus is currently very low

If you chose to learn Dart for mobile app development in 2022 then I highly recommend you to join this Flutter & Dart — The Complete Guide [2022 Edition] course on Udemy.

4. Kotlin

Yes, so many developers love to use Java to build different kinds of apps, and so is Kotlin. Kotlin is an object-oriented programming language that has support for Android app development. If you seriously plan to learn mobile app development in 2022, Kotlin should be on your list of languages to have fun with because it is probably the next big thing in the Android app development world.

Kotlin has great support for the best IDE in Android development, like IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio. Here are some pros of learning Kotlin for app development:

Pros

1. Clear and concise language with modern features.
2. Allows you to do functional programming with lambdas
3. Typesafe
4. checked exceptions
5. Good tooling and community support.

Even though Kotlin is seen as the next-generation Java it is not there yet. The Speed of Compilation is 2x - 3x slower than Java (Incremental compilation is available for IDEA but not yet for Gradle) The big plus of learning Kotlin is that it's the official app development language for Android app development and Google will keep promoting it.

Therefore, if you want to learn Kotlin for mobile app development in 2022, then The Complete Android Kotlin Developer Course is probably the best online course to start with.

5. Swift

It is far more common to hear the word Swift thrown around in the iOS development world. Swift is an object-oriented programming language built by Apple to replace Objective-C as the preferred programming language for iOS app development. If you are interested in building apps that run on Apple iDevices, especially the mobile iPhone, then Swift is a must-learn programming language for you.

So many programmers love Swift because of its close relation with Python. It quickly reminds them of different skills and methods any Python programmer can apply or use. Here are some pros of swift programming language

1. Swift has a great and advanced IDE called Xcode which is self-contained and if you include a library it is painless to use workspaces.
2. Swift is a type-safe language and it is easy to read, understand, and code in and it catches most of the beginner errors at compile time.
3. Swift can be applied to Server work. This is still a new concept and a bit difficult to ramp up on depending on where you work as most companies will have their framework or be using one of the big ones.

If you want to learn Swift and need a resource, I highly recommend you to join the iOS & Swift — The Complete iOS App Development Bootcamp, another excellent course from Udemy.

Which language is best for mobile apps?

A lot of arguments arise when this question is thrown because most developers would want to protect the language they use often. There is a huge misconception here if one is not careful. There is no best programming language in this world, rather there is best programming language for a particular mobile app project.

In other words, the best programming language depends heavily on the nature of your mobile application project and the features you intend to add. A more specific and related question to this is Which languages are used in Android app development? and this is simpler to answer. One can pick either the cross-platform languages like C# / Xamarin Forms, Dart / Flutter or go completely with Android's native languages like Java and Kotlin.

That’s it about the Top 5 Programming languages for Mobile App Development in 2022. Feel free to pick anyone and get started with the resources I have pointed out above. Note that I don't I am not affiliated with the owners of the above Udemy courses and I gain no commission when a purchase is made.

 Good luck ???? 

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