Want to jump straight to the answer? The best programming languages for DevOps Engineers is Python & Golang
This blog emphasizes programming & Scripting languages that are commonly used by DevOps engineers in DevOps environments for automation needs.
What are the Best Programming & Scripting Languages for DevOps Engineers?
Without wasting any more time, let’s dig right in! (In no particular order)
1. GoLang
When it comes to DevOps, GoLang is my #1 choice.
GoLang is the new kid on the block – emerging from Google’s own open-source kitchen – and it’s been taking the DevOps world by storm since its inception in 2009. Its syntax draws inspiration from other popular languages such as Python and C++, making it relatively easier for new programmers to pick up on.
Also, Golang developed for speed, the language emphasizes on lean, network-efficient runtimes means great things for DevOps.
It may quite interest you to know that DevOps tools like Docker(containerization), Kubernetes (container orchestration), Juju (for orchestration) and Terraform (Infrastructure as Code) are written using Golang.
And this is simply because it is easy to compile standalone, static binaries for all major operating systems. No libraries, no dependencies, nothing.
As there is wide adoption of GitOps practice with Kubernetes operators, GoLang is a sought-after skill for Kubernetes Operator development.
Golang Learning Resource: An Introduction to Programming in Go
2. Python
Python Must know scripting language for DevOps engineers
Python has emerged as the most popular programming language for DevOps. It is easy to learn for beginners and has a vast library of modules for performing various tasks in DevOps.
Popularly known as an all-purpose language, Python is crowned by GitHub as its second-most popular programming language and fastest-growing major programming language by Stack Overflow.
Python is a great language for automation because of its readability, comprehensibility, and concise syntax. It’s also an interpreted language, which makes it relatively fast to execute compared to compiled languages like Java.
Python scripts can be run directly on the server, making deployment easy. Additionally, Python has libraries for managing infrastructure (such as Puppet or Chef), automating testing (Selenium, WebDriver), and building web applications (Django, Flask).
Python is used by many organizations for its infrastructure development. It could be a platform development, automation script, or utilities for CI/CD.
Golang Learning Resource: Learn Python 3 from Scratch