It’s not a secret that nowadays, the IT sphere is one of the most profitable ones. More and more people dream of building a career in programming, so they go to universities and attend courses to prepare for it. But we all know that it’s challenging to decide which programming language to learn. And it is usually not about the language that is the easiest to master or the one we like the most - we want to base our choice on the profitability and popularity of a language. Here is the list of programming languages that are the most popular in 2021, with their advantages and disadvantages. We hope that this review will help you make a choice.
Python
Nowadays, Python developers amount to 29.9% of all programmers in the world. However, if we look at individual countries, we’ll see that Python always ranks in the top 3 (~12% of all programmers).
Python is considered one of the easiest programming languages to start with, but this language is difficult to master. Anyone can turn on the Internet and learn Python (the beginner level); however, like with any other language, constant practicing is required. You have to spend many hours improving your knowledge and skills. Python hasn’t always been that popular - it has come a long way and finally gained momentum in 2019.
Average salary: $108,032/year in the US. Value: Python is one of the most popular languages; the job board for Python developers is always full of offers.
Java
According to Statisticstimes , Java developers amount to 17.72% of all programmers. Java has always been popular (not just in 2021), and it’s a good language to start with.
As you know, the most popular IDE is the one from JetBrains. IDE IntelliJ IDEA is handy to work with as it is visually optimized, highlights mistakes and prompts, and supports any plugins. As with any other language, if you don’t practice coding in Java regularly, you won’t be successful.
Average salary: $102,327/year in the US. Value: Java is one of the most popular languages, which has a handy IDE and promises lots of job offers for developers.
C'#'
According to statistics, 6.9% of programmers code in C#. Why does it rank at No.3, above JavaScript, even though more developers use JavaScript? JavaScript is still on its way to success, while C# has been popular for a long time. If we look at individual countries, we will see that the statistics for C# are different in Germany (10.12%), the US (6.97%), the UK (8.41%), and India (6.67%).
If we compare Java and C#, we will notice that Java doesn’t support all the things that are supported in C#. C# is used for all Microsoft products. It's a difficult language for beginners, so we recommend you try your skills in some other language that will help you advance your software development logic, and then switch to C#.
Average salary: $100,000/year in the US. Value: Depending on the country, C# is one of the most popular languages. It’s not easy to find good job offers because there is a wide variety of salaries.
JavaScript
According to statistics, the popularity of this language is increasing. JavaScript has achieved great success with 8.31% of developers worldwide. The language is popular in the US (7.25%), Germany (6.83%), the UK (8.02%), and France (9.05%). The popularity of JavaScript depends on the country - for example, C# isn’t really popular in France, ranking No. 5, while JavaScript ranks No.1.
JavaScript is the next stage in web development after HTML and CSS. The website you are reading this article on is built in JavaScript to meet users’ wishes. If we compare JavaScript to other programming languages, it is considered to be one of the easiest to learn and to start with, and it is also a creative language.
Average salary: $111,355/year in the US. Value: JavaScript is becoming more and more popular, and it is easy to start with as there are lots of tutorials on the Internet. However, beginners usually find it difficult to get a job with JavaScript as companies mostly seek senior developers.
С++
С++ is the father of all languages, remaining popular among 6.62% of programmers worldwide. Even though some people may think that this language isn’t popular anymore and its time has passed, statistics say the opposite. С++ is used in the US (5.24%), India (8.12%), the UK (5.57%), France (4.43%), and Germany (3.38%).
C++ will always have value, but it doesn’t have a promising future. If we compare the current situation with the statistics of 2020, C++ has grown in popularity, and PHP that was expected to become popular, on the contrary, has slightly dropped.
C++ is for those who are really good at math - it’s not easy to learn or master. This language is very strict, and one minor mistake can ruin everything. As C++ is one of the most difficult languages, the programmers coding in it earn a lot.
Average salary: $113,964/year in the US. Value: C++ is not really popular hence it’s not easy to find a job, especially if you are a junior developer. However, high salaries are guaranteed.
PHP
We’ve already considered JavaScript which is associated with web development and is popular today. PHP is also a part of web development, and 6.15% of programmers worldwide use it. This language is the most popular in France (8.15%), India (6.4%), and Germany (6.21%), but not that popular in the US (2.93%). Unlike JavaScript, not every website needs PHP. If we compare these two languages, JavaScript is much easier to learn, and maybe that’s why PHP is not so popular.
Average salary: $90,031/year in the US. Value: Even if you are looking for a job in France where PHP is widely used, it’s not easy to find a job if you are a junior or middle developer. The salary offered to PHP programmers is lower than the salary offered to those coding in other languages.
R
Languages don’t need to rank No.1 to be good ones. R is an example. Only 3.93% of programmers worldwide use it, and it’s mostly popular in the US (5.7%) and the UK (5.1%), but not so popular in India (1.95%).
R is the language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. There are some good books on the Internet to study R. R is not a difficult language to start with. This language will always allow you to perform the newest statistical analyses as fast as possible.
Average salary: $81,163/year in the US. Value: This language requires strong math analysis skills and may not be interesting to everybody. R specialists constitute a small number of all programmers, and companies don’t need many of these specialists, so the job board isn’t full of offers.
Ruby
Even though Ruby doesn’t really rank No.8 according to statistics, we’d like to mention this language. Out of all programmers, 1.12% use Ruby, and it is most popular in the US (1.62%). We believe in Ruby’s success but, according to statistics, its growth is too slow, and the forecast isn’t really promising. However, as we mentioned above, a language doesn’t need to be the most popular one to have value.
Ruby is also a part of web development as it’s mostly used for building web apps. If we compare it to Python, we’ll find many similarities.
Average salary: $117,733/year in the US. Value: The language is quite easy to learn. Companies offer high salaries (up to $160,000), but the job board isn’t full of offers.
Swift
Swift is primarily used to develop apps on Apple platforms. It's also being used for a new class of modern server applications. If we compare Swift with C++, we will discover a similarity - the memory and runtime safety is good in both languages. Swift is used by 1.96% of programmers worldwide and it’s mostly popular in the US (3.3%), the UK (2.57%), and is less popular in India (0.98%).
Average salary: $105,656/year in the US. Value: The popularity of Swift is growing, and it’s not a difficult language to start with.
Kotlin
This language actually ranks No.12. However, according to statistics, its popularity is growing each year, and that’s why it ranks No.10 in this review. Out of all the programmers worldwide, 1.62% use Kotlin - it is mostly widespread in India (1.74%) and less popular in the US (0.78%).
Kotlin can be used for any kind of development (server-side, client-side web, and Android). It can be compared to Java, but Kotlin takes less time to compile as little code means fewer bugs. As with many other languages, Kotlin is not difficult to start with; however, it has some features that are difficult even for experienced developers.
Average salary: $100,453/year in the US. Value: The language is somewhat similar to Java. It’s not difficult for beginners; however, job boards are almost out of good offers.