[](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)
[](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ballerina)
[](https://discord.gg/ballerinalang)
# The Ballerina programming language
[Ballerina](https://ballerina.io/) is an open-source, cloud-native programming language optimized for integration. It is developed and supported by [WSO2](https://wso2.com/).
With Ballerina, you could easily develop microservices, API endpoints and integrations,
and any other application for the cloud. Additionally, Ballerina has all the general-purpose
functionalities you could expect from a modern programming language.
With Ballerina's compiler-level built-in support for widely used data types such
as JSON and XML, your focus on handling structured data, network service interactions,
and dealing with concurrency is made much more effective.
#### Providing and consuming services
It has inherently concurrent first-class language constructs for providing and consuming services.
#### Low code and pro code support
Ballerina allows seamless switching between low-code and pro-code, enabling visual design with optional custom coding.
#### Structural typing
It allows for looser coupling between distributed components and eliminates the friction of data binding.
#### Metadata
Extensible metadata enables easy integration of Ballerina programs with cloud platforms.
You could directly generate Docker and Kubernetes artifacts straight away from
the source code.
## Download and install
For instructions on downloading and installing, see [Ballerina Downloads](https://ballerina.io/downloads/).
### Installation options
For more installation options, see [Installation options](https://ballerina.io/downloads/installation-options/).
### Get the VS Code extension
Try out Ballerina's development capabilities using the [Ballerina extension for Visual Studio Code](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=WSO2.ballerina).
## Get started
You can use the following resources to learn Ballerina.
* [Get started](https://ballerina.io/learn/get-started/)
* [Ballerina by Example](https://ballerina.io/learn/by-example/)
* [Ballerina learn pages and guides](https://ballerina.io/learn/)
## Report issues
>**Tip:** If you are unsure whether you have found a bug, search the existing issues in the GitHub repo and raise it in the [Ballerina Discord](https://discord.com/invite/wAJYFbMrG2) or [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ballerina).
### Open an issue
- Language, Tooling, Website: ballerina-lang repo
- Ballerina library: ballerina-library repo
### Report security issues
- Send an email to security@ballerina.io. For details, see the security policy.
## Contribute to Ballerina
As an open-source project, Ballerina welcomes contributions from the community. To start contributing, read these [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/ballerina-platform/ballerina-lang/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) for information on how you should go about contributing to our project.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
## License
Ballerina code is distributed under [Apache license 2.0](https://github.com/ballerina-platform/ballerina-lang/blob/master/LICENSE).
## Join the community
* Get help on [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ballerina)
* Join the conversations in [Discord community](https://discord.gg/ballerinalang).
* For more details on how to engage with the community, see [Community](https://ballerina.io/community/).