{"id":14398,"date":"2022-07-29T16:49:10","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.com\/en\/?p=14398"},"modified":"2023-01-03T18:41:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T17:41:24","slug":"programming-library-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.com\/en\/blog\/web-development\/programming-library-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Programming Library? A Beginner\u2019s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of the most confusing parts of programming is navigating the jargon of the tech world. The two most confused words in development are programming library and framework.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n Today, we\u2019re going to talk about libraries. If you’re interested in the other half, check out our guide to frameworks<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Programming libraries are useful tools that can make a web developer’s job more efficient. They provide pre-written, reusable chunks of code that developers can use to create applications quickly and easily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Imagine you\u2019re creating an application that allows people to purchase and participate in a course. You might turn to a free, open-source library to create user authentication for logging in. Or you could use a library to connect your app to a server.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this article, we\u2019ll define the difference between a library and a framework, how developers use libraries, and go over the most popular programming languages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Want to jump ahead to a particular section? Just use the clickable menu:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Programming is simply the process of writing computer programs. Essentially, developers write words and symbols that tell a computer what they want it to do. <\/span><\/p>\n Just like humans can understand specific languages (English, French, German, Spanish, etc.), so can computers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are many different kinds of programming languages, and each serves a particular purpose. Some programming languages are designed for speaking to web browsers, others communicate with servers, and a few work within native operating systems like Android phones or Apple computers, like such as Swift<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n A programming library is a collection of prewritten code that programmers can use to optimize tasks. <\/span><\/p>\n This collection of reusable code is usually targeted for specific common problems. A library usually includes a few different pre-coded components.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Developers use libraries to build apps and websites more efficiently. Each library is designed to provide a solution to a specific feature. This can include user authentication, server connection, user interfaces, data management, algorithms, animations, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Developers will often look up libraries to help with a particular component they want to create quickly or are struggling with. Then, they\u2019ll choose the components they want to use all from that one library, so their app is as cohesive as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sometimes developers will also use libraries to view what they\u2019re working on from a different perspective. Every coder does things a little bit differently. Developers can refer to libraries to see how they might be able to do something in a different manner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The words \u201cframework\u201d and \u201clibrary\u201d are often used synonymously.<\/span><\/p>\n But, most programmers would argue that they\u2019re actually two different things. You could think of it this way: the framework is a model house, and a library is the flat-pack furniture and decor that goes inside<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In most instances, a library is a collection of objects and functions that can be used individually and must be configured to work together. Libraries focus on solving a specific problem within an area of development. Libraries allow you to dictate the flow of an application, add custom code, and quickly add only components that you need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Frameworks are often more like blueprints. Frameworks are collections of coded components that are already configured to work together. Frameworks generally include a preset architecture or design that developers must work within. <\/span><\/p>\n Frameworks often focus on functioning as an all-in-one solution for a specific methodology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A model house doesn\u2019t have many custom choices. It\u2019s based on a predetermined blueprint and standard options. On the other hand, Ikea has tons of options and customizations for its easy-to-build furniture.<\/span><\/p>\n There are libraries for every programming language. Libraries are most commonly used by data scientists<\/a> and web developers. <\/span><\/p>\n Just like the most popular coding languages<\/a> may not be the best one for you, so too does it depend on what you want to achieve.<\/span><\/p>\n First, we\u2019ll list the most popular programming languages in the world, which are primarily data science libraries.<\/span><\/p>\n NumPy is a Python<\/a> library that developers can use to make powerful arrays. This library is used for machine learning. <\/span><\/p>\n NumPy helps developers simplify their work by sorting through massive amounts of data in less time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another Python library, Matplotlib is often used with NumPy to make datasets more manageable. <\/span>It also serves up standard graphing functions that can be used to visualize data on a timeline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n TensorFlow can be used with Python or C++. It was developed by Google to help create and train machine learning models<\/a>. It\u2019s mainly used for neural networks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Apache Spark is an analytics engine for big data processing. It\u2019s designed for Scala, Python, Java, and SQL<\/a>. Spark supports super fast analytic queries against large amounts of data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Because JavaScript has been so pivotal for full-stack web development, it’s worth taking a look at the tools it uses. We’ll touch on the most popular JS libraries, but it’s important to learn vanilla JavaScript first<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Getting started is easier than you think, with this free online video tutorial from our in-house web developer Abhi:<\/p>\n\n
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1. What is programming?<\/span><\/h2>\n
2. What is a programming library?<\/span><\/h2>\n
3. How do developers use libraries?<\/span><\/h2>\n
4. What’s the difference between a library and a framework?<\/span><\/h2>\n
5. Popular programming libraries<\/span><\/h2>\n
Most popular programming libraries<\/span><\/h3>\n
NumPy<\/h4>\n
Matplotlib<\/h4>\n
TensorFlow<\/h4>\n
Apache Spark<\/h4>\n
Best JavaScript libraries<\/span><\/h3>\n