Top 5 Programming Languages for Engineers
The more skills and experiences you have as an engineer, the more valuable and marketable you become in your field. Programming is one of those skills that will help you stand out as an engineer. In fact, some engineering fields heavily rely on programming and there are no other ways around it. These fields include software and computer engineering.
If you are to become a software or computer engineer, you are recommended to have a good grasp of languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript, C, C++, and C#. Obviously, the more language you learn, the better. You also need to educate yourself about the current trend. If you are interested in web development, for instance, HTML, CSS, and PHP are important languages to know. Now that we have briefly discussed these two programming-based fields, let’s explore programming languages popular in other engineering fields. Be mindful that other engineering discipline also uses languages such as Python, Java, C, etc., we are just mentioning language
- MATLAB
MATLAB has been widely used among engineers and scientists. It is a computing platform built-in with a programming language that allows data and numerical analyses, algorithm design, simulations, and modelling. In MATLAB, you also have tools such as Simulink, a graphical programming environment for simulating and modelling systems.
2. Mathematica
An alternative for MATLAB is Mathematica. Mathematica is another powerful tool used by scientists and engineers to solve complex mathematical problems with little coding. It contains a built-in algorithm that can robustly resolve tedious mathematical problems.
3. Visual Basic for Application (VBA)
VBA is an event-driven programming language built in Microsoft Office Applications (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Word, and Visio). It can be used by engineers to access Windows APIs, create user-defined functions (UDFs) and graphical user interface (GUI), and automation.
4. Structured Query Language (SQL)
SQL is a domain-specific language used to process large data. It is a standard language for Relational Database Systems commonly used by data engineers and scientists.
5. R
R is a programming language for graphics and statistical computing. Hence, it is often used for statistical inference, visualization, data analysis, and machine learning algorithm.
MATLAB, Mathematica, VBA, and SQL are high-level programming languages as they are user-oriented. R, on the other hand, is a low-level programming language as it is machine-oriented. These programming languages are used by engineers from various engineering fields such as mechanical, electrical/electronic, civil, chemical, data engineers, and more. Other popular languages include C, C++, C#, Python, Java, and JavaScript, and they are also used by computer and software engineers.
