Ranking of Popular Programming Languages: Summary for the First Half of 2024
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Now there is a lot of competition in the IT field, new technologies are constantly appearing and existing ones are being updated. What should you study to always be on the wave and not lose your skills? Of course, you need to know which technologies, programming languages and platforms are currently relevant.
The rating of programming languages can help you with this.
It is clear that the indicators can vary in different countries and even in different regions within the same country, so first we will look at the ranking in the world as a whole, according to the TIOBE index.
The TIOBE index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages and is updated monthly. The ranking is based on data on the number of qualified engineers, courses and service providers around the world. Popular platforms such as Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Bing and more than 20 other sources participate in the calculations.
The index can help determine how relevant your skills are to today’s requirements. But it is important to understand that TIOBE does not evaluate the quality of the language itself or the amount of code written in it.
The ten most popular programming languages in the world according to the TIOBE Programming Community index (as of August 2024):
1. Python
Python is a universal, interpreted, high-level programming language. Its popularity has grown due to its simple syntax, which makes it ideal for beginners. Python is heavily used in data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and web development. It has a rich ecosystem of libraries and frameworks (e.g. TensorFlow, Pandas, Django) to accelerate development and prototyping. Python is also good for automation and scripting.
2. C++
C++ is a compiled programming language based on C, but with enhanced object-oriented programming functionality. It is popular in the development of high-performance system applications, video games and software for embedded systems. Although C++ is more difficult to learn due to low-level memory management and syntax, its speed and power make it preferable for many applications where performance and optimization are important.
3. C
C is one of the oldest programming languages, which remains the basis for creating operating systems, drivers and embedded systems. It is known for its minimalism and direct memory management, which allows you to create very efficient programs. Knowing C is a great way to understand how computers work at a low level, as well as a foundation for learning languages like C++ and Java.
4. Java
Java is an object-oriented programming language known for its cross-platform functionality thanks to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It is widely used for the development of web applications, mobile applications (especially on the Android platform), enterprise solutions and AI. Java is focused on reliability, security and scalability, making it the choice for large enterprise systems.
5. C# (C-sharp)
C# (C-sharp) is a programming language developed by Microsoft for the .NET platform. It inherits many features of C++ and Java, making it a powerful tool for building Windows applications, web applications, and games on the Unity platform. C# also supports many programming paradigms, such as object-oriented, functional, and component-oriented programming.
6. JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language that was originally designed to create interactivity on web pages. However, thanks to technologies like Node.js, it has become widely used for server-side development. JavaScript is one of the key elements of modern web development (along with HTML and CSS). It is characterized by basic comprehensibility for quick learning, but with its help you can also create complex systems.
7. SQL (Structured Query Language)
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a specialized language designed for database management. It is used to perform queries to databases, manage data, its structure and update. SQL is a critical tool for working with relational databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server and is widely used in application development, data processing and business analytics.
8. Visual Basic (VB)
Visual Basic (VB) is a high-level programming language developed by Microsoft that supports an easy-to-learn graphical interface for rapid program development. VB has become popular among novice developers due to its ease of use, especially for creating desktop and GUI applications on Windows platforms. The language can be used for full-stack and front-end development.
9. Go (or Golang)
Go (or Golang) is a compiled programming language developed by Google that simplifies the development of high-performance applications. It is known for its simplicity in syntax, high execution speed and support for multi-threading, which makes it popular for building server applications, cloud systems and micro-services. Go has gained widespread acceptance among API and system application developers.
10. Fortran
Fortran is one of the oldest programming languages, developed in the 1950s for scientific and engineering computing. Despite its age, Fortran is still used in research, high-performance computing (HPC), and in fields such as physics, chemistry, and meteorology. Its ability to run on different architectures makes it in demand for complex calculations and simulations.
For the first time in its history, Python reached a record mark of over 18% in the TIOBE ranking. The last such achievement was Java in 2016, although Java’s all-time high was 26.49% in June 2001.
The gap between Python and the second most popular language, C++, is 8%, which is almost a record difference. However, languages such as Rust and Kotlin, although developing rapidly, cannot yet compete seriously. At the same time, the top 10 of the index saw changes, with SQL rising from 10th to 7th place, and Go falling from 7th to 10th.
In Ukraine, according to the results of the Dou.ua annual survey on programming languages JavaScript is the most popular, with Python in third place.
The coverage of Java and C# continues to decrease, but the popularity of PHP remains almost at the same level as last year. From what may indicate changes in the market structure: the shares of C++ and C have increased, the share of Apex has decreased and 1C has increased, although it would seem that the opposite should be true. The growth of ABAP (the language for the SAP ERP platform) and X++ (the language for the Microsoft Dynamic ERP platform) is still noticeable.
Let’s look at the distribution of languages by platform: on Desktop, the most popular language is C#, followed by Python and C++. In general, Python is one of the main development languages in almost any specialization. But technologies like Electron with TypeScript/JavaScript are less common.
In Mobile Cross-Plaftorm, we have the same trend of moving from JavaScript to TypeScript and a noticeable increase in the share of Dart. It is interesting that in the segments of native mobile development, both on Android and on iOS, the “native language” becomes less and less over time.
As last year, in general, the distribution of programming languages by specification has a similar appearance. For the Backend, the figures for Python and Rust are significantly different from actual use: they want to program with them. With PHP and Ruby, the situation is the opposite.
In Full Stack, it is noticeable that TypeScript is ahead of JavaScript, with C# in second place. It is also interesting: in 4th place — database languages. That is, doing something like a PL/SQL procedure that draws an HTML interface seems to many to be a better solution than choosing existing development tools.
About 32% of respondents plan to learn a new language within the next year. What languages are these? Out of competition – Python, Go and Rust.
We asked the Sperotek team which programming languages are the most common when working on projects and on which platforms they are used.
- JavaScript (SFCC / BigCommerce) – 61.98%
- PHP (Magento / BigCommerce) – 16.53%
- Apex (SFDC) – 8.26%
- Python (BigCommerce) – 8.26%
- Liquid (Shopify) – 8.26%
JavaScript is the most common programming language in our company, which reflects the importance of web development and support of e-commerce platforms (SFCC and BigCommerce). PHP also plays a significant role due to the stable presence of current projects on Magento.
The use of Apex, Python and Liquid demonstrates some diversification of the technology stack that caters to the needs of specialized platforms such as Shopify, which is strategically important for the company to meet customer needs.