Why Are There Different Programming Languages?

Programming languages work at different levels of 'abstraction.' For example, if you want to program what instructions a CPU gets on a very granular level, then you need to do so using a 'low level' language called Assembly. But if anyone tried to write actual, useful software in Assembly, it would take forever.

That’s why we have 'high level' programming languages that take care of the boring stuff, like memory management and other behind the scenes processes. They enable you to only write code that does the unique things that you want your code to do.

Over the years, this has led to countless new 'high level' languages emerging that are better suited to different computing tasks. For example, PHP is great for writing clever websites, and Apple's Swift language is great for writing basic apps — it essentially turns the different building blocks (menus, pages, buttons, etc.) into Lego blocks that your code can piece together on the screen.