The Top 5 Programming Languages For Android App Development

Mobile app development is mandatory for any business to deliver services and products. While some companies believe in developing their application to offer services, others rely on third-party mobile applications to serve their clients. Post-pandemic transformations are game changers; mobile app development is on a massive rise. This blog will delve into the top five programming languages for Android app development.

Choosing the suitable programming languages does half the job for your business as it is a core component of the application’s cross-platform performance, responsiveness, and efficiency. We shall discuss the top five languages and why developers prefer using them for cross platform mobile app development.

There are over 6.3 billion smartphone users worldwide, and 88% of their time is on mobiles. Playstore alone has close to 2.9 million applications. With these statistics, we can understand the demand for mobile applications and their growth. While creating an Android application, two critical things to consider are how you monetize your business and the programming language you use to develop the application. The first is specific to the business model, and we skip that, but choosing the right one from multiple programming languages for developing mobile apps is crucial, and we shall deal with it.

The following are the top five programming languages for Android development.

1. Java
2. Kotliin
3. Python
4. Javascript with HTML and CSS
5. Dart

Many other languages can help you build the best-performing Android applications. Still, these are leading the list, with more developers opting for them due to their unique and developer-friendly features.

1. Java

Java is a widely accepted and time-tested programming language for web and Android development. Java is an object-oriented language that offers robust and platform-independent applications. Developers opt for Java for its vast ecosystem, strong community support platform independence, and object-oriented nature. Libraries and frameworks of Java provide advantages to developers and support Android development.

Benefits of Java

• Performance excellence results from responsive development, robust memory management, and resource optimization techniques.
• Java provides powerful tools for Android development. A comprehensive, integrated development environment(IDE), popularly known as Android Studio, is one such tool by Java.
• Verbose syntax and learning curve are challenging, but developers can quickly build the best Android apps once mastered.

2. Kotlin

Kotlin, by JetBrains, is the second most powerful and popular programming language for Android app development. It offers a modern and precise syntax maintaining seamless interoperability for the existing codebases, especially with Java. This interoperability feature allows businesses to smoothly transition from Java to Kotlin, enabling developers to leverage existing libraries, tools, and frameworks. Syntax of Kotlin is more expressive than Java and reduces boilerplate code, which results in developer productivity and reduces development time. The syntax is so simple that it enhances readability and maintainability. Kotlin has got built-in language support for coroutines and can simplify asynchronous programming. Asynchronous code writing capability allows developers to code sequentially, increasing code readability.

Benefits of Kotlin

• Increasing developer productivity is a byproduct of Kotlin’s concise syntax, modern language features, and powerful tools like Kotlin Android extensions. Synthetic is another tool from Kotlin that simplifies everyday development tasks.
• Null safety feature eliminates NullPointerExceptions reducing the runtime crashes arising from null values.
• Android studio integration is simple and easy and provides code completion, refactoring, and debugging, providing a smooth development for programmers.

3. Python

Python is a simple and versatile language, also known as a general-purpose programming language, and is one of the top languages for Android development. Rapid prototyping using extensive libraries helps in iterative development. Easy to learn and read makes it a developer’s choice to build applications. Robust libraries like NumPy, Pandas, and SciPy make it the best option to build data processing and machine learning applications, considering them futuristic. Kivy and BeeWare frameworks by Python enable cross-platform development for Android applications that can run on any device without significant code changes.

Benefits of Python

• Integration with Java makes Python the best choice, as it uses extensive Java libraries to build applications.
• Simple, readable syntax enables developers to build applications that are easy to develop, improving readability and best suited for applications with long-term maintenance.

4. JavaScript with HTML and CSS

JavaScript with HTML and CSS is well known and the best choice for web development; however, with the advancements in technology and the advent of frameworks like React Native and Ionic, developers are using these technologies to build cross-platform mobile applications, especially for Android operating systems. Code reusability and web development skills allow developers to write code once for Android and deploy it on other platforms like iOs and the web. Rapid development is possible with JavaScript, as it boasts vast libraries and frameworks.

Benefits of JS with HTML and CSS

• The cross-platform capability reduces the Android application development time, allowing developers to use code once written to deploy on multiple platforms.
• Hot reloading allows developers to check the results on the go enabling developers to accelerate the development process.

5. Dart

Google came up with a new modern-day object-oriented programming language, Dart. Earlier, Dart was famous for its web and server-side application development, but later it became popular in developing Android applications. Dart is renowned for its performance as it uses a just-in-time (JIT) compiler which compiles the code ahead-of-time(AOT) for production deployments. A single codebase for multiple platforms approach uses the flutter framework by Dart, which provides cross-platform compatibility to the applications.

Benefits of Dart

• Dart follows reactive and declarative programming models to develop beautiful and responsive applications with interactive interfaces.
• Open-source libraries and a vast community help Dart with new and innovative frameworks and libraries, making it assemble a rich ecosystem to build new-age mobile applications.

Considering the business use case and your application’s complexities, you can opt for any programming language to build Android applications. However, each programming language on the list has some pros and can bring challenges while developing an application. Companies can invest in creating the right development team with skilled professionals before building an application and then deciding on the programming language churning the SMEs’ expertise.