Top 8 Programming Languages for Mobile App Development

With over 6.3 billion smartphone users all over the world, there is no surprise that why the mobile app industry is continuously thriving and generating new revenue opportunities for all businesses out there.

Most companies today have introduced mobile applications that enable them to interact with customers, do business, and be entertained. As the demand for innovative apps grows, developers constantly seek the most effective programming languages to build robust and scalable applications.

The crucial question is: which programming language should be chosen to ensure the success of a mobile app development project, as it will determine the app’s performance, ease of updates, and potential for future growth?

We have curated a list of the top 8 programming languages so you can pick the one for your next project.

Swift

Swift is a powerful and smart programming language for mobile app development of iOS, iPad, MacOS, WatchOS, and tvOS applications. Initially launched in 2014, Swift rapidly took the position of the language of choice for developers interested in iOS application development.

Key Features

Performance: For this reason, Swift has been optimized to run fast, having a performance that is in sync with the likes of C-based counterparts.
Safety: For example, Swift removes entire classes of unsafe code, and it introduces ‘optional’, which avoids null pointer exceptions.
Ease of Use: Swift has simple syntactical rules that make it easier to read and write as opposed to some other programming languages.
Interoperability: Swift is one hundred percent integrated with Objective- C, which means developers can use both languages together for the same project.

Use Cases

iOS App Development: Swift is the main language used when creating applications for Apple environments, such as the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
Performance-Critical Applications: The speed and the optimized use of resources make Swift perfect for performance-intensive use as in games or real-time processing applications.

Kotlin

First released by JetBrains in 2011, Kotlin is now the go-to programming language for mobile app development and the construction of Android applications. We can confidently state that Kotlin is becoming one of the standard tools for Android development.

Key Features

Interoperability: Kotlin fully dovetails with the Java language, which means the developers can even use both in their Android projects.
Conciseness: Kotlin is much alike Java but comes with less unnecessary code compared to Java; thus is easier to write and maintain.
Null Safety: Kotlin enjoys null safety features built into the language, which help minimize null pointer exceptions and make codes safer.
Coroutines: Kotlin comes with built-in support for coroutines, and helps write asynchronous code much more concisely than using callbacks.

Use Cases

Android App Development: Android is developed under the Kotlin language, which has enriched features and tools that make developers’ work easier.
Cross-Platform Development: Kotlin Multiplatform is an excellent feature that makes it possible for developers to write a piece of code, and it runs on different platforms, such as Android, iOS, and the web.

JavaScript

JavaScript is an interpreted, object-oriented language with dynamic semantics that is used for web development. The conventional use of JavaScript was in web applications, but with tools such as React Native and Apache Cordova, developers also use JavaScript to develop the best mobile app development languages.

Key Features

Cross-Platform Development: JavaScript, used in combination with frameworks like React Native, enables the coding of an application that can function on both iOS and Android devices.
Rich Ecosystem: JavaScript is used widely crosswise the globe, and as a result, there is a plentiful of libraries, frameworks, and tools for web application development that are suitable for the creation of the best mobile app development languages as well such as React Native, Ionic, Apache Cordova and others.
Asynchronous Programming: The other advantage of JavaScript is that it provides support for asynchronous programming through the use of promises, async/await, and callbacks for tasks such as API and I/O operations.

Use Cases

Cross-Platform Mobile Apps: JavaScript is perfect for creating applications that have a native-like experience and will be installed on iOS and Android platforms.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): JavaScript is used in Progressive Web app development, which is a type of web application that is indistinguishable from native mobile applications and can be installed.

Dart

Dart is a language created by Google and is used in the creation of Flutter which is a framework that helps to develop natively compiled applications for the web, windows, and IOS from a single codebase.

Key Features

Fast Development: Hot-reload feature of Dart provides developers the ability to observe the changes in the running application without their restart, thereby increasing the velocity.
Performance: Dart is compiled into machine code, meaning users can see the highest performance of their apps when they are running them on either operating system, iOS or Android.
Single Codebase: It helps developers spin an app for multiple platforms from a single code base, thus saving time and costs.
Strong Typing: Dart is a statically typed language, which means that you can easily eliminate many mistakes at the stage of development, thus increasing the stability of code.

Use Cases

Cross-Platform Development: Flutter uses Dart for building platform-independent mobile applications but looks native on both iOS and Android.
Web and Desktop Applications: Apart from developing the best mobile app development languages, Dart can also be used for developing web and Desktop applications thus making Dart ideal for multi-platform development.

Java

Java has been the mainstay and best language for Android app development and programming since its early days in the market. Even though Kotlin became popular, Java remains the well-accepted and recognized language in the Android development field.

Key Features

Portability: Java does not require compiling and re-compiling for different machines like C requires different compile time code for different machines but Java code is entirely portable and runs on any machine with Java Virtual Machine.
Rich API: Java provides a rich API that eases most of the complications of building the best language for Android app development and is especially important for Networking I/O and UI.
Strong Community Support: Java is supported by a huge number of followers and many libraries, frameworks, and tools that can be used by developers.
Backward Compatibility: It continues to preserve BCI, which confirms that greater aged codes can still be maintained and up-to-date in Java.

Use Cases

Android App Development: Java continues to be the best language for Android app development, especially for ‘retro-style apps and designs and applications that must be compatible with older systems.
Enterprise Applications: This has made Java well-suited for developing large-scale enterprise mobile applications.

C#

C# is an excellent language, created by Microsoft, which is used in Xamarin and that is used when it comes to creating multiplatform applications.

Key Features

Object-Oriented: C# is an Object Oriented Language so it is easier to manage and control the large amount of code through the codebase.
Cross-Platform Development: Xamarin makes it possible for C# to extend development in a way that one codebase can build applications for iOS, Android, and Windows.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE): The main language used to develop in C# is Visual Studio which is an IDE that comes equipped with debugging tools, code analysis, and performance-enhancing features.
Strong Community and Support: That is why C# has many fans among the developers, support from Microsoft, and many materials for studying and solving problems.

Use Cases

Cross-Platform Mobile Apps: C# with Xamarin is the best language for mobile app development and is recommended for any developers who are planning to develop applications for multiple platforms using a unified code base.
Game Development: C# is popular in game development and is heavily used with the Unity gaming system, hence preferable for developers of mobile games.

React Native

React Native is an open-source platform of Facebook that enables the developer to create mobile applications using JavaScript and React. To put it simply – it makes it possible to simultaneously build the app for both iOS and Android platforms based on a single set of code that offers almost native performance.

Key Features

Cross-Platform Development: By using React Native as a cross-platform app development tool, one is in a position to develop one code that works for both the iOS and the Android platforms, hence saving time.
Native-Like Performance: It is a framework that is somewhere between web and mobile development that gives nearly native outcomes as the components are directly rendered to the native applications programming interface.
Hot Reloading: This helps the developers have immediate feedback on the changes and modifications made regarding the code rather than having to reconstruct the whole application.
Large Community and Ecosystem: Being an open-source project, React Native has a great community and many libraries and tools, making it easier to find resources, help, and third-party plug-ins.

Use Cases

Cross-Platform Mobile Apps: React Native is suitable for developers who wish to develop apps for both iOS and Android platforms at the same time with a high level of code reuse.
Rapid Prototyping: The hot reloading feature of React Native is convenient when it comes to creating the best language for mobile app development as fast as possible, at least in the prototype.
Apps with Complex User Interfaces: It is ideal for creating applications that imply the use of smooth and complex interfaces, as the developer will have access to native GUI widgets.

Python

This is a high-level interpreted language that is closely associated with simplicity and flexibility. Contrary to the assumptions, Python is not only limited to web development and programming languages for mobile app development using frameworks like Kivy, and BeeWare.

Key Features

Ease of Learning: The English-like syntax of the language makes Python perfect for persons new to programming and for any developer who wants to develop an application.
Rich Libraries: Python programming language has a rich set of libraries and frameworks that make different levels of development tasks easier starting from low-level network tasks to pre-processing of data.
Cross-Platform Development: Kivy and BeeWare, are both Python-based frameworks that enable users to design and develop mobile applications for both iOS and Android.
Community Support: Python has one of the biggest and most active communities of developers, which provides a vast amount of documentation, tutorials, and other materials.

Use Cases

Prototype Development: Python is beneficial especially when it comes to creating first versions of mobile applications in order not to invest a deep amount of time in this kind of software.

Data-Driven Applications: Due to its efficiency in data manipulation, Python is well suited for developing the best language for mobile app development with high input and output data processing demands.

Conclusion

Mobile app development in 2024 is highly diverse in terms of languages and frameworks, each with its advantages. JavaScript versatility or the speed of Swift and Kotlin can be leveraged for developers to produce impressive apps. The importance of keeping up with the newest trends is the key to being competitive.

The right language is determined by the project requirements, platforms, and the developer’s experience. Through careful analysis of each choice, developers can achieve excellent mobile experiences, which could either be through cross-platform frameworks or native languages.

Ready to develop your mobile app? Find expert developers who can assist you in selecting the right programming language and developing a top-notch app. We at Provis Technologies welcome your thoughts.