Best programming Languages for Android App Development

Android apps play a vital role in our day-to-day lives, seamlessly integrating into various aspects of our routines. From checking emails and listening to music to texting and ordering food, nearly every service now offers an Android application for its users. In this article, we will explore some of the best programming languages for Android app development, helping you choose the right tools to create your own impactful and efficient applications.

About Programming Language

Programming languages are a way to interact or communicate with your system or device. Computers, as we know, only understand binary at the machine level, i.e., 0s and 1s. To convert our instructions to a machine-understandable language, we need a programming language. So, programming language plays a significant role in interacting and performing desired actions on a device or system.

When you consider Android devices than to interact with android devices, we need android applications. For developing those android applications, we need to know a programming language. The Android operating system is primarily written in Java, and its low-level libraries are primarily written in C++.

Top 8 Programming Languages for Building Android Apps

Currently, there are several programming languages available that help you in android app development. You can find below some of the most common programming languages used for android development.

1. Java
2. Kotlin
3. Dart
4. C#
5. C++
6. Python
7. Lua
8. JavaScript

Now, let’s see each programming language in detail and understand how you can use it to develop android applications.

1. Java

Java is known as the official language for android application development. However, these days Java is being replaced by a more concise and secure language known as Kotlin. Java is a significant language, and most of the apps published on the Google Play Store are built on Java.

Java as a broad language involves many concepts, like function overriding, constructors, containers, classes, objects, threads, exceptions, null pointers, etc. If you are a beginner and looking for something easy to start with, Java may not be the best choice.

Even Java seems to be complicated, yet it’s a great language to learn and apply. Knowing Java would also help you understand concepts like Object Oriented Programming and provide you an upper hand in building servlets with JSP(Java Service Provider).

2. Kotlin

Kotlin is one of the most trending and popular languages for developing android applications. It is an open-source programming language that allows you to write concise codes with more security. It has recently gained a lot of attention in the market, and beginners in android found this language relatively easy to learn and implement.

You might be familiar with Zomato, the well-known food delivery app. Zomato developers use Kotlin to code their applications. Zomato has significantly reduced the length of code for their application with the help of Kotlin.

Kotlin has much easier syntax and requires fewer lines of code compared to Java. The all-new Kotlin was declared as an official android application development language by Google in the year 2019. However, Kotlin can run on Java Virtual Machine and acts as a substitute for Java in android development.

3. Dart

Dart is one of the most recent languages that Google developed for the purpose of Android Application development. The stable version of Dart was released in 2021 and is currently emerging a lot in the market. Dart is usually used for developing client-side applications. Its syntax is similar to C-style syntax and supports object-oriented programming.

Dart syntax is relatively easy compared to other languages and is used to develop some beautiful UI components. It became more popular due to the Flutter Framework. Flutter, along with dart, is well known for developing multi-platform applications. In other words, you can develop apps for platforms like Android, IOS, or even desktop applications. Currently, the community for dart is expanding and slowly will emerge in the market as one of the best languages for android development.

4. C#

C# is also one of the most commonly used programming languages used for android development. The syntax is quite similar to Java, and also C# provides garbage collection similar to Java. In the case of C#, there is less probability of memory leaks due to a prominent garbage collection tool.

C# couldn’t significantly make a stable position in android development due to lack of platform support. In the early days, C# was only supportive in .NET framework systems like Windows. With the coming of Xamarin and Unity, this problem is also solved. Xamarin and Unity provide an android SDK that helps in coding android applications with the help of C3. Xamarin with C# is used for developing cross-platform applications. At the same time, Unity is quite well known for developing cross-platform games.

5. C++

C++ uses the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) for developing Android applications, allowing developers to write performance-critical parts of the app in native code. When building an app with C++, you need both C++ and the NDK, making the development process more complex. The syntax can be quite intricate, and many tasks require extensive knowledge of C++ core libraries. Due to these complexities, it might be more efficient and straightforward to opt for Java or Kotlin, which are better integrated with Android’s ecosystem and offer a more streamlined development experience.

6. Python

Python is another powerful language that can be used to create Android applications. Although it doesn’t support native features as robustly as other languages, Python offers a library called “Kivy” that simplifies the process of building Android apps quickly. Despite its versatility and ease of use, Python is not the most recommended language for Android development due to its limitations in providing optimal performance and seamless integration with Android’s native features.

7. Lua

Lua is not so popular these days but yet a good alternative for developing android applications. It is used chiefly with the Corona SDK that provides features to develop native android applications. It comes up with Corona Simulator and Corona Native.

Corona SDK is easy to learn but primarily used to develop graphical applications and games. However, you can use it to develop your native applications too.

8. JavaScript

JavaScript is quite familiar to most web developers. It is most popularly used for web developments, and many of the developers are aware of this client-side scripting language. JavaScript has several frameworks such as React, Vue, and Angular. You can use these frameworks even to develop android applications.

Two good examples of these are React Native and Ionic, which use Javascript and HTML, and CSS and provide you with the feature to build applications for cross platforms. If you are a web developer looking to hop into android development, the best path is to take either React Native or Ionic as your development framework.

Why Kotlin?

Kotlin, as discussed earlier, is now considered as the official language for android development by google. Not only is it the official language, but also quite simple to learn and easy to understand. The codes written by Kotlin are pretty concise and safe. You don’t need to worry about semicolons while writing Kotlin codes. The null pointer exception is simply handled by putting the ‘!’ mark.

App Built over Kotlin

Kotlin is one of the most popular languages these days, and even many app developers use Kotlin to develop their applications. One good example is Zomato that uses Kotlin to reduce the code length of their application and make it concise and safe.

Summary

Through this article, you came across programming languages that help us in android app development. You saw how programming languages work in developing android applications. Moving on, you saw the top 8 programming languages used for android development. Later on, you saw details of each programming language and understood how those languages are used for android development. Finally, you saw Kotlin and the benefits of using Kotlin for Android development.

TechVidvan Team

The TechVidvan Team delivers practical, beginner-friendly tutorials on programming, Java, Python, C++, DSA, AI, ML, data Science, Android, Flutter, MERN, Web Development, and technology. Our experts are here to help you upskill and excel in today’s tech industry.