Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin
Ask HN: Startup programming language/framework stats?
5 points by alrightythen on Jan 14, 2011 | hide | past | favorite | 11 comments
I'm curious to know which programming languages and web frameworks are en vogue with startups right now. Can anybody offer any insight on this or links to statistics?



I would point out the biggest 3 scripting languages around and their Web frameworks

Ruby + Ruby On Rails ( Twitter, Group On, BaseCamp, Scribd, Hulu, Justin.TV, SlideShare etc..) The Web Framework is designed for Fast coding for Web, really nice design and easy to use.

Python + Django ( Washington Post, http://www.djangosites.org/most-comments/ ) Django is also a Web FW designed to help in fast coding, but as far as I can see it strong point is the admin console which is very rich.

Scala + Lift ( http://lift.poweredsites.org/ ) I am not very familiar with it, I only know that it's a son of Java language, it uses the Java JVM to work, and it's sintaxe looks more like java then the to above.

I myself am learning Ruby because I liked the Web Framework more( I am a Java programmer, java sucks a bit for Web, too complex I think) Python has the appeal to be useful for more stuff like doing linux stuff or getting a job on Google :D

Cheers from Brazil !


Thanks for the list. I disagree with the notion that Scala is one of the biggest three scripting languages around. Judging by the startup job listings at http://www.quora.com/Which-startups-are-hiring-in-the-San-Fr... almost everyone uses Python, Ruby, or PHP. There was little to no mention of Java (in a web context) or Java-related languages such as Scala. Things might be different in Brazil, though.


Lift is used by Foursquare.

Twitter has a lot of open-sourced components in Scala, if Rails is still used, its only for the frontend, which talks to these services.

Cheers from Brazil.


you are right !

PHP totally slipped my mind... but My point was the "New" ones :D I would not advise anyone to learn PHP nowadays... to much trouble for to learn an old language, it's still in use I agree but has too many problems solved by those 3.

Java Web is a pain I work with it and takes a lot of time to master and be able to code anything useful in it... would never recommend it for a web Startup. Ok, maybe for a webbroker I would :D


I disagree with your stance on PHP. It is not an "old" language (in fact, it's younger than both Java and Python), and while some programmers seem to have a problem with it, most of the criticism is exaggerated in my opinion. Personally I like both Python and PHP, but in terms of getting something simple up and running quickly, nothing beats PHP (and yes, the thing that you get up and running is actually very maintainable).


Just checked http://www.quora.com/Which-startups-are-hiring-in-the-San-Fr..., and it seems that the languages most in demand are Python, Ruby, and PHP.



Thank you. Glad to see Python at the top of the list, since that's my preferred choice as well.


Javascript 704 points

Is the top of the list

Cheers.


Sure, I know, but I was mainly talking about the serverside of things (and the poll was focused on that, too, since the majority of languages there can't be used on the clientside).

And yes, I know that you can use JavaScript on the serverside too, but I highly doubt that something like node.js would be the backend engine of the majority of startups. So the way that I'm interpreting the results is that everyone (or most) startups use JavaScript on the clientside, and a majority of startups use Python on the serverside.


Django/Python in our case http://alpha.beepl.com




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: