The most popular programming languages in 2019
There has been a huge increase in the number of programming languages available, used by software developers throughout the world to create new programs and applications of every kind. They are used in the world of IT according to the functions they offer.
An interesting study, involving over 90,000 developers from across the world, recently revealed which programming languages are the most used. It is important to start by saying that the data should be contextualised, because each sector has its own specific key languages.
It is interesting to observe the competences that companies request that coding professionals have. This survey could be a source of inspiration for aspiring programmers when deciding which language they should focus on learning.
The results of the survey
JavaScript remains the clear front-runner among the developers’ favourite programming languages, with a solid 69.7% of preferences. It is followed by HTML/CSS with 63.1%, still one of the leading languages for web page formatting. In third place is SQL with 56.5% of preferences for languages connected with the management of relational databases.
The surprising growth in popularity of Python, with 39.4% means it has now overtaken Java (remaining at 39.2%) in less than a year. Other results in the league table show Bash/Shell/PowerShell at 37,9%, C# at 31,9%, PHP at 25,8%, TypeScript at 23,5%, C++ at 20,4%, C at 17,3% and Ruby at 8,9%.
As well as providing the percentage scores for each programming language, the survey also collected other interesting details. It would seem, in fact, that the most highly paid developers are those specialising in DevOps as well as engineers who deal with website security.
Expectations for the future of programming
Among the questions in the survey there were some relating to the level of satisfaction provided by the professional role held and expectations for the future. It is interesting to note that, on the whole, the majority of developers were completely satisfied with their role in the company or agency where they worked.
Any problems seem to arise when developers are asked to carry out tasks which are not related to programming (in the case of men) or due to toxic working environments (in the case of women). Those developers with the most optimistic view of the future were the Chinese, while European workers were the most discouraged.
Another interesting point is active participation in open source projects. Over 65% of programmers declared that they contribute, at least once a year, towards expanding the ‘free code’ community with their creations.
The right age to learn a programming language
Many of those interviewed declared that the average age when people start to write their first code is around sixteen years old (even though the results varied considerably according to the respondents’ gender and country of origin). Over 45% started their programming activities less than 10 years ago and 40% transformed it into an actual career less than 5 years ago.
This data is significant because it shows that, through passion and hard work, it is possible to achieve important objectives, even when faced with complex challenges. Young people, in their adolescent years, already possess all the tools and cognitive abilities necessary to understand whether programming is in fact the professional route that they wish to take.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
