If you want to start with a language that is known for being relatively simple to learn, consider Ruby. Developed in the 1990s, it was designed to have a more human-friendly syntax while still being flexible from the standpoint of its object-oriented architecture that supports procedural and functional programming notation. A web-application framework that is implemented in Ruby is Ruby on Rails (“RoR”). Ruby developers tout it for being an easy language to write in and also for the relatively short learning time required. These attributes have led to a large community of Ruby developers and a growing interest in the language among beginning developers.

Level: Beginner – Ruby and Ruby on Rails have evolved to become extremely popular for web developers.

Skills Needed: Problem-solving, abstract thinking (ability to visualize what application users want to see)

Platform: Web

Popularity Among Programmers: On the rise

Benefits:
Flexible
The syntax is considered easy to read and to write (no specialized “vocabulary” to get started)
Enforces good programming style

Degree of Use: Least broadly used