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The Stack Report: Decoding the purpose and performance of today’s leading development frameworks
Web Development
The primary languages of Web Development are JavaScript for adding reactivity, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) for creating structure, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). While technically you could make a website with just HTML it would look pretty basic without CSS and without JavaScript it would have very limited input.
Mobile Development
Done using Kotlin or Java for Android and Swift or Objective-C for iOS with Kotlin and Swift being the newer, official, and more supported languages for their respective platforms, but often use with UI frameworks such as Jetpack Compose for Kotlin, JavaFX for Java, SwiftUI for Swift, and UIkit for Objective-C.
Desktop Development
WinForms, WinUI 3, WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) which are specific to Windows, Cocoa/AppKit for MacOS, various frameworks for different Linux distros, and for all desktop platforms (including Linux) Electron with JavaScript, Qt which uses C++ or Python, and Avalonia which uses C#.
Cross-Platform Development
Done typically using specific frameworks such as Flutter used with Dart, Kotlin Multiplatform used with Kotlin (which handles the backend and can also be used with Multiplatform Compose for the frontend), JavaFX used with Java, React Native used with JavaScript (which can be paired with React Native Web to also make web apps), and the .NET MAUI used mainly with C#.
Game Development
Done with a variety of programming languages, largely dependent on the platform you are targeting and the engine you are using. The art style can be 3D, 2D even somewhere in between as 2.5D. The genres also vary widely, from turn-based to real-time games and more.
Backend Development
Deals primarily with managing databases and their security
Frontend Development
Deals with everything the user sees and interacts with, using HTML, CSS, and JS for the web, Kotlin or Java for Android, Swift or Objective-C for iOS, and C# or C++ for Desktop or cross-platform frontend frameworks like Flutter, Ionic, Multiplatform Compose and more.