In 2021, a report was produced by several Portuguese researchers who had set out to find the most sustainable programming languages in the world. They produced a report based on their findings in the International Conference on Software Language Engineering 2017. Their findings stand true even today because they have updated their research data in 2021.
The research mostly focused on finding those programming languages that consume the least amount of energy and are sustainable in the environment.
Sustainability and eco-friendly nature of programming languages are not something that we are used to considering when selecting programming languages. Programmers are usually well-versed in several programming languages. However, it is only one or two programming languages that programmers tend to specialize in. In selecting these languages, one usually takes into account the language’s accessibility, demand in the market, process of documentation, and the skills required to use it. The sustainable nature and the energy consuming factor of these languages are rarely factored in.
The research report states, “Our results show interesting findings, such as slower/faster languages consuming less/more energy, and how memory usage influences energy consumption. We show how to use our results to provide software engineers support to decide which language to use when energy efficiency is a concern.”
Through the research reports, it came forward that the “greenest” and the most energy efficient languages are, in the order of ranking, C, C+, Rust, and Java.
The paper studied twenty seven programming languages very closely, mostly focusing on runtime, memory usage, and energy consumption and ranked them in respective order of efficiency and sustainability.
Energy Consumption
In terms of energy, it becomes evident from the list that C, Rust, C++ consume the least amount of energy. They have the fastest runtime. However, Java script consumes almost twice as much energy as Java does. The rankings also show that Java Script consumes almost four times the energy that C consumes.
On the other hand, Python has the longest runtime and processing time. Therefore, it consumes a considerable amount of energy while being processed. Therefore, it is the least green programming language and least sustainable in its usage.
Runtime
In terms of time, the ranking of the programming languages is the same as that of energy consumption. Those languages that have lesser run time will automatically consume less energy.
Memory Usage
In terms of memory consumption however, Java is one of the most memory consuming programming languages that are in use, along with Java script. Pascal, Go, C, Formtam, C++ are in their respective order, the least memory consuming languages in use.
While choosing a programming language to learn and specialize, sustainability is a new parameter that both companies and programmers can keep in mind. This allows us to make climate conscious decisions and fight climate change with right choices.
C, C+, Rust, and Java are the Greenest Programming Languages
In 2021, a report was produced by several Portuguese researchers who had set out to find the most sustainable programming languages in the world. They produced a report based on their findings in the International Conference on Software Language Engineering 2017. Their findings stand true even today because they have updated their research data in 2021.
The research mostly focused on finding those programming languages that consume the least amount of energy and are sustainable in the environment.
Sustainability and eco-friendly nature of programming languages are not something that we are used to considering when selecting programming languages. Programmers are usually well-versed in several programming languages. However, it is only one or two programming languages that programmers tend to specialize in. In selecting these languages, one usually takes into account the language’s accessibility, demand in the market, process of documentation, and the skills required to use it. The sustainable nature and the energy consuming factor of these languages are rarely factored in.
The research report states, “Our results show interesting findings, such as slower/faster languages consuming less/more energy, and how memory usage influences energy consumption. We show how to use our results to provide software engineers support to decide which language to use when energy efficiency is a concern.”
Through the research reports, it came forward that the “greenest” and the most energy efficient languages are, in the order of ranking, C, C+, Rust, and Java.
The paper studied twenty seven programming languages very closely, mostly focusing on runtime, memory usage, and energy consumption and ranked them in respective order of efficiency and sustainability.
Energy Consumption
In terms of energy, it becomes evident from the list that C, Rust, C++ consume the least amount of energy. They have the fastest runtime. However, Java script consumes almost twice as much energy as Java does. The rankings also show that Java Script consumes almost four times the energy that C consumes.
On the other hand, Python has the longest runtime and processing time. Therefore, it consumes a considerable amount of energy while being processed. Therefore, it is the least green programming language and least sustainable in its usage.
Runtime
In terms of time, the ranking of the programming languages is the same as that of energy consumption. Those languages that have lesser run time will automatically consume less energy.
Memory Usage
In terms of memory consumption however, Java is one of the most memory consuming programming languages that are in use, along with Java script. Pascal, Go, C, Formtam, C++ are in their respective order, the least memory consuming languages in use.
While choosing a programming language to learn and specialize, sustainability is a new parameter that both companies and programmers can keep in mind. This allows us to make climate conscious decisions and fight climate change with right choices.