Programmers are always in high demand these days for jobs, especially if they have fluency in coding language. Learning programming in various languages for engineers is a no-brainer, but some basic understanding of the languages can be invaluable to anyone, even if you’re not looking forward to becoming a master coder.
Gaining some general understanding of programming can help you make the right choice for your business needs, let you communicate better with other developers in your team, and can prevent any misunderstandings. Plus, jobs for coding are very well-paid, so you might want to consider this for a future career move.
There are numerous programming languages in market use today. How to know which one to learn programming with first? How to choose the best for your IT? Well, I can’t answer these questions for you. But I can help you to clarify each language in details to help you make the right choice.
Following are the top list of the most popular programming languages in the IT industry you need to know about based on many reviews, rankings, and comments by millions of developer all over the world. But remember that some IT professionals might have other comments or opinions about what’s written here.
1. Java
Java was created at Sun Microsystems in 1990 by James Gosling and was later object-oriented release in 1995. It was originally invented as Smart TV programing language and now it becomes the most popular and the fastest-growing programming language in the world. Java has a lot of features from C and C++ and now it becomes also the core language for Android applications development. Learn programming with Java, compile your code, and run your application on any device or operating system with Java Virtual Machine installed (JVM).
Strength Points: WORA: Write Once Run Anywhere, Portability, Powerful library of reusable components, and Attractive incentives on the job markets.
Weakness Points: Java is slower than other natively compiled languages, also Java can’t be used to program device controllers.
Who Can Use: Games developer, Mobile applications developer, Web applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
2. Python
Python is high-level, multi-paradigm, and an interpreted programming language that was created by Guido Rossum in 1989 for general purposes of programming. Google invested in Python over the past 10 years till it became the main programming core for Ubuntu, Instagram, Pinterest, Rdio, WordStream, and Google of course, that’s why it’s an excellent chance to be Python programmer and get a great option to work in big companies like them. American students learn programming in Python in their schools. Python has straight forward, simple, and readable syntax which made it the easiest programming language to learn.
Strength Points: Readability, Simplicity, Popularity, Elegancy, and Job market attractions.
Weakness Points: None.
Who Can Use: Web applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
3. C
C was created by Dennis Richie in 1972 for the development of UNIX operating system at Bell labs. The C language has numerous spiritual descendants like C++, C#, Perl, Java, and JavaScript. C is a low level, object oriented, and widely used programming language for embedded systems and operating systems. C is simpler language than Java and C# and it’s considered as the nearest language to the hardware amongst all other programming languages. If you are looking for a great programming career in the long run, so you should start to learn programming in C.
Strength Points: WORA: Write Once, Run Anywhere, Speed, Portability, and Simplicity.
Weakness Points: Mastering memory management is very hard.
Who Can Use: Games developer, Mobile applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
4. C++
C++ is multi-paradigm, compiled, and object oriented programming language that was created by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1983 as an update to the C language. C++ is the ideal selection for strong desktop applications, as well as games and mobile applications. The software for fighter jets is developed in C++ as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Adobe Software collection, Winamp, and Windows OS. C++ has wide range of vacancies requested in the Jobs market and still growing.
Strength Points: Speed, Fast processing, Quick compilation mechanism, and Portability.
Weakness Points: Object orientation in C# and Java is better than C++.
Who Can Use: Games developer, Mobile applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
5. C#
C# is an object oriented, compiled, and syntactically semi-identical to Java which make it so easy to switch from or to Java. C# was founded by Microsoft in 2000 for the purposes of developing Microsoft applications and as a part of the .NET framework. Visual Studio is the IDE for Microsoft applications development.
Strength Points: Speed, Powerful, and High performance.
Weakness Points: Suitable only for Windows with some limitations on Linux using the Mono Project.
Who Can Use: Games developer, Mobile applications developer, Web applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
6. Objective-C
Objective-C was created by Brad Cox and Tom Love at Apple in 1983. The main purpose of creating Objective-C programming language was to address the deficiencies in the C language and especially the object orientation. Objective-C is the main programming language for iOS applications. Many developers now all over the world are converted to learn programming in Objective-C to develop applications for iPads and iPhones as the iOS App Store (iTunes) is growing rapidly and freelance industry has huge demand for Objective-C programmers.
Strength Points: Speed, Highly demanded jobs, and Flexible.
Weakness Points: Lack of resources, Suitable for Apple’s iOS only, and Complex.
Who Can Use: Mobile applications developer, Mac applications developer.
7. Ruby
Ruby is an object oriented, interpreted, and straightforward programming language, was created by Yukihiro Matsumoto in 1995 for the purpose of developing web-based applications. It’s also known as Ruby on Rails and it’s the main supplier of famous web applications like Yammer, Scribd, Github, Groupon, and Shoppify. Ruby combines almost the best features of Eiffel, Pearl, and Lisp. Ruby is ideal selection for startup companies.
Strength Points: The most object oriented language.
Weakness Points: Slow.
Who Can Use: Web applications developer.
8. JavaScript
JavaScript is a multi-paradigm, interpreted, and client-side web programming language that was developed by Netscape. With JavaScript, you can superb UI, add communication and interactivity to your website, do web form validation, and animate elements on the web pages. The original name for JavaScript was ECMAscript and now it becomes a successful trend for modern web. There’re huge JavaScript libraries all over the internet but the most popular library is JQuery.
Strength Points: Speed, Reliable to do client-side web programming, Simplicity, and Flexibility.
Weakness Points: Useful only in the web browser, and No vacancies for JavaScript development only.
Who Can Use: Web applications developer, and Games developer.
9. PHP
PHP is a multi-paradigm, well-known, and open source programming language that was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1996 and it stands for Hypertext Preprocessor. Yahoo, Facebook, WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla use PHP in their websites as PHP is mainly focused in creating dynamic web pages. PHP is also integrated in LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) and now WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP). Web developers should learn programming in PHP as it has a huge job market but not well-paid jobs comparing with ASP.NET.
Strength Points: Well-Documented, Open-Source, Dynamic, Fully object oriented, and Easy to learn.
Weakness Points: Syntax is inconsistent, and Security issues.
Who Can Use: Web applications developer.
10. SQL
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a widely used database query language but it’s not a development language. If you plan to execute databases like Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, My SQL, SQLite, etc., you must be aware of SQL language. It gives you the proficiency of acquiring data from various databases. SQL is extremely simple and readable and almost all applications has a database as a backend to interact with. Like what we mentioned above for JavaScript, SQL can’t be beneficial alone if you search for jobs.
Strength Points: Well-Documented, Easy to learn, and Readable.
Weakness Points: None.
Who Can Use: Games developer, Mobile applications developer, Web applications developer, Enterprise applications developer, and Software developer.
11. PERL
Perl is a multi-paradigm, interpreted, and well-accepted programming language that was created in 1986 by Larry Wall. Perl is ideal selection for systems administration scripting, test automation, or text processing. Most Perl programmers switched to learn programming in other languages as Python, Ruby, and PHP because Perl has a scary looking syntax and not organized at all.
Strength Points: System administration, and Text processing.
Weakness Points: Syntax.
Who Can Use: Web applications developer, and Software developer.
12. Swift
Swift is the trendiest programming language for developing applications for Apple products. Swift can be easily utilized by developer for building up applications for Apple’s MAC and iOS activated devices quickly and simply. If you are keen to develop superb iOS applications, then it is better for you to learn programming in Swift and gain knowledge of it.
Strength Points: Speed, Simplicity, and Readability.
Weakness Points: Like Objective-C, Suitable only for Apple devices.
Who Can Use: Mobile applications developer, and Mac applications developer.
Conclusion
To learn programming languages is not an easy job, but it can be very rewarding. Just remember always to get help through our guide whenever you need it!
You can find out here the answer to almost everything about trending programming languages, so there is no excuse for you to fail.
Also remember that it sometimes takes years for becoming an expert programmer. Don’t expect to be expert overnight. Just keep learning every day and be always updated and I’m sure that eventually you will be competent enough to get your job done and certainly gain a high and well paid job for yourself in the IT industry.
