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Computer Science and Engineering 5 Types of Programming Languages

5 Types of Programming Languages

Written by Coursera Sta • Updated on Nov 29, 2023 Share

Learn more about some common categories of programming languages to get inspired to start
coding.

Programming is a skill that is becoming increasingly sought after in the job market. Having at least a
basic understanding of how software functions is helpful for anyone who interacts with technology.
With a background in programming, you can get a job coding, designing software, data architecture,
or creating intuitive user interfaces.

But what language should you learn? You'll find a seemingly infinite number of programming
languages that are free to learn and develop projects with online. With the field of technology
growing exponentially each year, the internet is a great place to start when trying to explore the latest
developments or discover a new skill.

Whichever language you learn, you may find it helpful to take notes or draw diagrams detailing the
steps you're taking and why. It's important for programmers to be able to communicate their process
to non-technical stakeholders, but taking notes can also be a great learning tool. "Turns out this often
comes in handy not only for the sake of creating documentation, but often helps in solving a single
task or issue where the underlying tech is challenging to understand," offers Eric Hartzog, a software
engineer at Meta.

In this article, we'll explore some of the most common types of programming languages and give you
some resources you can use to start learning.

5 major types of programming languages

While you'll find dozens of ways to classify various programming languages, they generally fall into
five major categories. Keep in mind that some languages may fall under more than one type:

1. Procedural programming languages

A procedural language follows a sequence of statements or commands in order to achieve a desired

output. Each series of steps is called a procedure, and a program written in one of these languages
will have one or more procedures within it. Common examples of procedural languages include:

C and C++
Java
Pascal
BASIC

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2. Functional programming languages

Rather than focusing on the execution of statements, functional languages focus on the output of
mathematical functions and evaluations. Each function–a reusable module of code–performs a
specific task and returns a result. The result will vary depending on what data you input into the
function. Some popular functional programming languages include:

Scala
Erlang
Haskell
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3. Object-oriented programming languages (OOP)

This type of language treats a program as a group of objects composed of data and program
elements, known as attributes and methods. Objects can be reused within a program or in other
programs. This makes it a popular language type for complex programs, as code is easier to reuse and
scale. Some common object-oriented languages include:

Java
Python
PHP
C++
Ruby

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4. Scripting languages

Programmers use scripting languages to automate repetitive tasks, manage dynamic web content, or
support processes in larger applications. Some common scripting languages include:

PHP
Ruby
Python
bash
Perl
Node.js

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5. Logic programming languages

Instead of telling a computer what to do, a logic programming language expresses a series of facts
and rules to instruct the computer on how to make decisions. Some examples of logic languages
include:

Prolog
Absys
Datalog
Alma-0

Other ways to classify programming languages

You'll find many more ways to categorize languages beyond the five listed above. Let's take a closer
look at there other ways you can think about programming languages:

Front-end vs. back-end languages

Front-end languages are primarily concerned with the ‘user’ aspect of the software. The front end
deals with all of the text, colors, buttons, images, and navigation that the user will face when
navigating your website or application. Anyone with a background in graphic design or art may be
more inspired to begin learning one of the front-end languages.

Some examples of front-end programming languages include:

HTML
CSS
JavaScript
React

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Back-end languages deal with storage and manipulation of the server side of software. This is the
part of the software that the user does not directly come into contact with but supports their
experience behind the scenes. This includes data architecture, scripting, and communication
between applications and underlying databases.

Anyone with experience in mathematics or engineering may find more interest in back-end
development.

Some examples of back-end programming languages include:

JavaScript
PHP
Java
Python
Ruby
C#

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A full-stack developer combines their knowledge of both front- and back-end languages, along with
other technical skills and expertise, to work on any part of the development process.

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High-level vs. low-level languages

The biggest factor that differentiates high- and low-level programming languages is whether the
language is meant to be easily understood by a human programmer or a computer. Low-level
languages are machine-friendly, which makes them highly efficient in terms of memory usage but
difficult to understand without the help of an assembler. Since they're not very people-friendly
because they don't use human language, they're also not widely used to code. Examples of these
machine languages include machine code, binary code, and assembly languages.

High-level languages, on the other hand, are less memory efficient but much more human-friendly.
This programming style makes it easier to write, understand, maintain, and debug. Most popular
programming languages in use today are considered high-level languages.

Interpreted vs. compiled languages

The distinction between interpreted and compiled languages has to do with how they convert high-
level code and make it readable by a computer. With interpreted languages, code goes through a
program called an interpreter, which reads and executes the code line by line. This tends to make
these languages more flexible and platform independent.

Examples of interpreted languages include:

Python
JavaScript
PHP
Ruby

Compiled languages go through a build step where the entire program is converted into machine
code. This makes it faster to execute, but it also means that you have to compile or "build" the
program again anytime you need to make a change.

Examples of compiled languages include:

C, C++, and C#
Rust
Erlang

Markup language

Often, markup languages such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) are classified as programming
languages. Technically, markup languages are not considered to be the same as programming
languages. Instead, they are text-encoding systems made up of symbols that control the formatting
and structure of content on a page or document.

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Keep reading

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November 29, 2023 November 29, 2023 November 21, 2023

Should You Learn Object-Oriented 8 Types of Coding Jobs (+ Tips to Get Hired) Java vs. C++ Comparison: What Are the
Programming Languages? 5 min read · November 29, 2023 Di erences in These Programming
5 min read · November 29, 2023 Languages?
November 21, 2023

Updated on Nov 29, 2023 Share

Written by:
Coursera Staff
Editorial Team
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