What's the best programming language for…

What’s the best programming language for a high-performance web server?

What’s the best programming language for processing large text files?

What’s the best programming language for…

Shut up!

These questions are meaningless. The best language for practically any task is (drum roll, please)…

the language you are most familiar with!

There was a time when it was important to squeeze every micro-optimization possible out of our code. Unless you’re still writing code for an Altair 8800, this time is long past. Humans are by far the most expensive part of any IT operation these days, so don’t waste time on premature optimzations worrying about which language to write your CRUD service in.

Instead, optimize for the humans who touch your code. Write your service in the language you, and your team, are most familiar with.

In the rare situations where some piece of code does require extra optimization, which cannot be achieved in your chosen language, you’ll know it. And you’ll be asking far more detailed questions than “What’s the best language for X?”

Until you find yourself in that situation, just stick with the language you’re comfortable with.

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