Grace Martinez

Jul 06, 2022

Multi-Language Programming

Where there are multiple different technologies—programming languages, legacy tools, and up-and-coming technology stacks—there is complexity. Engineering teams spend more time wrestling to retrofit programming languages with licenses, security, and dependencies. At the same time, management lacks oversight on code compliance and can't gauge risk.

What happens is that enterprises have varying degrees of programming language quality and high variability in tooling support. It's hard to become an expert in one language when you're required to work with a dozen. There's a big difference in skill level between a person who speaks French and Italian fluently and a person who can string a few sentences together in eight languages. The same is true for developers and programming languages.

The difficulties only increase with the addition of more programming languages, leading to a digital Tower of Babel.

The answer is not to take away the tools your developers need for the job. Adding new programming languages builds their skill base and empowers them with the right equipment to fulfill their craft. So, you want to say "yes" to your developers, but as more and more programming languages are added to the enterprise, they impose a drag on your software development lifecycle (SDLC). At scale, all these languages and tools can kill the enterprise.

There are three main issues enterprises should pay attention to:

Multiply each programming language in your organization by these three issues, and what started out as a molehill suddenly looks like Mount Everest. And just like a mountain climber, you won't survive without the proper equipment and tools.