How to pick the right programming language (and why it should be Python)

It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about a large company launching an IT project or a startup building its first MVP - the choice of software engineers will make or break the project.

There are many programming languages to choose from, and you can’t think about a single feature when selecting the right one. Each language has different characteristics, communities, ecosystems, and support community that should be considered.

In this article, I’ll show you how to analyze these relevant factors when selecting a programming language - and why Python turned out to be our language of choice.

Here are 3 questions you should ask before choosing a programming language.

What is your project?

The first criterion in language selection should be the type of your project. If it’s a personal project, it’s best to choose a language you know. But if you’re launching or running a company, you need to consider more factors before choosing the technology that will help deliver your solution. That choice will also determine the second step: finding the best tech partner.

What kind of problem are you trying to solve?

Great products are designed to address particular problems of their target audiences. At this point, you’re probably aware of similar solutions on the market. Check what types of technologies your competitors used when developing their product. If there are libraries supporting it, you got yourself a match.

Is the language popular?

If a language is popular, you can count on sourcing many well-qualified developers in your market who are ready to work at your company. Popular languages are surrounded by huge communities that provide developers with sample resources and solutions to help them get things done faster and solve critical problems.

Why our language of choice is Python

At Sunscrapers, we have been using Python as our backend language for 7+ years. Why do we love Python for? Here are 3 main reasons:

• It’s developed under an open source license;
• Its community is open and mature;
• Its foundations are easy to learn for beginners.

So let’s take a closer look at Python to see why it’s an amazing technology

Python is high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language.

Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than in other languages like C++ or Java.

Python can be used in fields ranging from web development, scientific programming, and scripting to big data, machine learning, and computer graphics.

Today, Python is used by YouTube, NASA, Google, or Bank of America.

It also powers Pinterest, Instagram, Spotify, Dropbox, and many startups (e.g. DISQUS and Y Combinator startups).

Python responds to the needs of our customers smoothly and helps us deliver support of highest quality.

Fast implementation enables us to introduce changes to projects without any waste of time. The readable code is another great perk – if our client wants to upbuild their project, we can involve someone new in the development process without breaking a sweat.

Python is great for web development because it fits nicely with front-end frameworks like Angular.js or React.

It can also scale to help developers solve complex problems thanks to a simple and elegant syntax. That’s why we can build a great MVP in Python to quickly test our client’s business idea, but also handle a larger, more complicated product.

Python is constantly updated, so you can be sure that projects written in Python will never stack in an old technology.

Moreover, Python has an active community that organizes events to promote Python and a high number of open-source libraries that offer us the opportunity to build-up our projects easily.

Key takeaway

Python is a language that helps us best to support the vision of our clients. We wouldn’t have chosen this language if it wasn’t for its adaptability to the needs and requirements of our customers.