A chatbot is basically a software you can chat with. If you use it right, your life will be much easier — instead of searching something on the internet, you can simply ask chatbots what you want to know.
Although they can’t think like a human yet, they still enable you to directly interact with the brand you’re interested in, which was previously close to impossible.
Chatbots are leading the digitization of the human interaction, and there is no doubt they’re becoming an unavoidable part of our everyday lives. 2016 seemed to be the year of chatbots, but 2017 is going to be even bigger.
If you have an idea for a chatbot, and still don’t know which programming language to choose, here are the options for easily building a chatbot:
1. Python
Python is used mostly for it’s simplicity. It has a straightforward syntax and it’s object-oriented. It is also one of the most widely used programming languages in the field of Artificial Intelligence, again, thanks to it’s simplicity. AIl chatbots are easy to write in Python with the use of AIML — Artificial Intelligence Markup Language. AIML is actually a form of XML for creating natural language software agents.
Here is how to make a Slack chatbot using Python.
2. Clojure
Clojure is a dialect of a programming language called Lisp. It’s a functional programming language that runs on Java Virtual Machine. Clojure enables you to write your app’s code as a series of functions which are easy to understand and easy to test. As a functional language, it highlights recursion and higher-order functions instead of side-effect-based looping. It was designed by Rick Hickey, who said he wanted a modern language for functional programming, which would work on the established Java platform.
3. PHP
Creating a chatbot in PHP is very cheap because it’s an open source language and it’s very easy to use. It is much faster than other scripting languages and there are many libraries available for you to work with API. If you create a chatbot in PHP, it will be very easy to run it on any platform since it’s platform independent. PHP is a high-level language and a chatbot can be very easily created with it.
If you think PHP is the go-to language for building your Messenger chatbot, here’s a guide to creating a chatbot using PHP.
4. Java
Java can provide you with all the high-level features you need for AI projects. If you want to build an AI chatbot, Java is probably the best language you can use because it offers an easy way to code algorithms, and AI is full of them. It also runs on the Java Virtual Machine technology and if you use it you can create an application that runs on any platform. Java has the most important features for a sophisticated interface, like facilitated visualization and standard Widget toolkit.
If you are interested in creating a chatbot with Java, check out this easy to use library for creating Telegram bots..
5. Ruby
Ruby has a very simple syntax which allows beginners to create a chatbot easily. It is in many ways similar to Perl and Python. Ruby is a dynamic and object-oriented programming language. In this language, everything is an expression and everything is executed imperatively. However, creating a chatbot with Ruby might be expensive. It is initially available for free, but you will need to buy a licence at some point. It is also not very flexible for developers since it’s not independent like Java or PHP.
Here’s a Telegram Bot to help you get started.
Bonus: Chatbot Platform Tools
If you’re not a developer or want to do it the easy way, there are chatbot platform tools that can help you create your chatbot. Of course, it depends on the complexity of your chatbot and the features you’d like to add.
- ManyChat helps you create a Messenger bot for marketing purposes. Here’s how to do it:
- Chatfuel is also a tool you can use to create AI bots for Facebook
- Manybot is a platform for creating bots for Telegram.
Most of these tools offer basic features in their free version but for additional services you need the premium version.
To conclude, companies must follow the trends and adjust to what the market requires in order to stay competitive. Chatbots are currently one of the hottest things in marketing and they’re a must for every business that’s willing to grow. There are many ways of creating them, and you need only choose the one that fits your company best.
If you have an idea for a chatbot, Valoso Hub can help you create it.
