Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing programming language popularity here on ZDNET. Most recently, I compiled data from nine different rankings to create ZDNET Programming Language Popularity Index.
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When compiling those stats, I found raw data from a similar survey I conducted in 2016. While that study was based on six rankings rather than the nine I used this year, it’s still instructive about the language’s overall popularity across constituent groups.
I was curious. With this data, how has the popularity of language changed over the past eight years? Obviously, the big change in our computing landscape is AI, so how does AI fit into this mix? The result is this very nice chart.
That diagram contains a lot of information. Let’s try to break it down into more manageable parts, starting with the most popular languages.
Top languages
Python is an elegant language. It is simple yet incredibly powerful and has become the language of choice for data scientists and AI, as well as general web development. It is no surprise that it has risen to the top spot.
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JavaScript have become increasingly important to web development, especially in the creation of dynamic web documents. Frameworks such as React And angle has also helped expand its usefulness and put it above other languages.
Consistent performers
If there are any languages that represent classical programming, it is the C-based languages: Java, C++, C#, and C. Proving that algorithmic coding is still very useful, these languages are fundamentally unchanged.
Sure, Java dropped two spots in our index, but is still in the winner’s circle. Java is a powerful object-oriented programming language that is commonly used in enterprise applications and even Android development. Despite competition from other languages, there are still a large number of programmers and applications that keep it relevant. For those who don’t follow the languages too closely, Java and JavaScript are quite different beasts.
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C++ is an extension of the old C, adding object-oriented features. While C dates back to 1972, C++ is still quite old, first implemented in 1985. However, it is still popular for compiled, performance-sensitive applications that need object-oriented structures.
C# is Microsoft’s version of C++, widely used in Windows applications and Windows games. It is fast, efficient, and fully integrated into the Microsoft development ecosystem.
I was actually a little surprised. Lifespan of C. That said, it is very tight. It has no extra bloat and does exactly what it says on the tin. It is highly regarded in some areas of operating system, compiler, and embedded system development.
For the top six languages, the only changes over the past eight years have been a few shuffles in position. But now, when we move to the slightly less popular languages, we see that the fluctuations have been quite extreme.
Newcomers
TypeScript, Rust, Kotlin, and Dart weren’t on our 2016 list, but are now on our 2024 list. All four existed before 2016 (although Rust was only a year old at the time), but they’re now more widely used.
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Font is another language that originated from Microsoft. It is basically modern JavaScript with static typing added. This improves code quality and makes maintenance easier, especially as projects grow. The ability to scale JavaScript projects is probably one of the factors that has led to its growing popularity. Another factor is that it has been integrated into major JavaScript frameworks.
rust is a widely used language for systems programming. Its focus on memory safety without sacrificing performance has helped it take over some of the system work from C and C++.
Kotlin Kotlin is basically Java on steroids. Kotlin fully interoperates with Java, adds some code safety features, helps developers write more concise code, adds coroutines for asynchronous code, allows developers to extend classes with extension functions, etc. Google has chosen Kotlin as its preferred language for Android, which has given it a big boost.
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Darts And Vibrate It sounds like something out of a Disney movie, but instead we’re talking about languages and frameworks. Dart, developed by Google, is great at building mobile UIs, and Flutter helps developers deploy across multiple platforms.
Rising Stars
With the exception of Go, our rising stars are all loyal, just a little quicker in their stride.
Go is another statically typed language developed by Google. It provides a fairly simple structure for building concurrent, scalable applications. Go has become popular for cloud computing, microservices, and containerization.
Since we’ve mentioned static types a few times, I should probably explain. Variables are coded containers that hold variable values. The values assigned are usually of different types (integers, strings, floating point numbers, etc.). Typically, the compiler and interpreter don’t check what type of value goes with which variable.
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Problems from this can arise after deployment but can be overlooked during development. Static typing checks variables and values during development, resulting in more reliable code after deployment. That would be wonderful, except that it’s just a programming issue.
The next few languages have caused some controversy in previous posts. Some programmers argue that they are not even real languages. I have included them because they were included in surveys I have compiled. And with that, let’s discuss SQL, HTML, and the shell.
Algorithmic programmers (especially C/C++/C#) will look at HTML and SQL and disparage them as not being real languages. That’s because they don’t have the usual algorithmic programming features. But they rely on syntax to produce results and, more importantly, they are the skills needed to create applications.
HTML (which defines the structure of web pages) and CSS (which defines style) will probably never go out of style. And websites, whether in the form of full sites or just output pieces, are the foundation for most modern projects. Why have they increased since 2016? Web development remains key to digital transformation, so skills are in demand.
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SQL (Structured Query Language) is a language for retrieving data from a database. As data becomes more important, so does the ability to retrieve data.
Shell programming, a program string programming tool, has been around since the dawn of time. It is one of the features that gave UNIX and later Linux its power. Forms of shell programming exist for all major operating systems, but the growing need for automation and coordination in complex system environments is keeping these old tools relevant and constantly evolving.
Languages are losing popularity
Languages that are losing popularity include PHP, Swift, Ruby, and R.
Because WordPress is built in PHP and I do a lot of WordPress programming, I program a lot in PHP. It’s not much fun. PHP is a very inelegant language, with weird inconsistencies and exceptions. It’s powerful and capable, but ugly and prone to unnecessary errors. It’s losing popularity as Python gains popularity.
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Ruby is another language that had its day, but there are better alternatives. JavaScript, especially when combined with Node.js, Python, Go, TypeScript, and Rust are all more flexible, more powerful, and more code-safe alternatives.
I was really surprised to see R statistical language drop, especially when it comes to data analysis that requires statistics. But the fact is, anything R can do, Python can do better. Are you starting to see why Python is so popular?
And then there is FastApple’s icon for iOS development. Does Swift’s discontinuation mean iOS apps are losing popularity? No, not really. It’s just that Swift is no longer the only game in town for iOS development. Alternatives include JetBrains’ AppCode, Google-developed Flutter, Facebook-made React Native, and the powerful Unity game development platform.
Languages excluded from the rankings
It makes sense that Objective-C would be phased out. It used to be the primary programming environment for Apple devices, but Apple has been proactive in replacing it with Swift. So, basically, Objective-C is obsolete.
Perl is great at what it does, but its code is so compact that it is nearly unreadable. This also makes it much harder to maintain. As coding projects get larger, maintainability becomes more important than the number of characters it takes to write a line of code.
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Visual Basic and Delphi were once the primary languages for building Windows applications, but they have been replaced by web development for some applications and C# for everything else. They are not forgotten, but they are mostly gone.
What do you use?
What languages are you using? Are any of your favorite languages rising or falling stars? Do you agree with my assessment of why languages are rising or falling? Are there any results that surprise you? Let us know in the comments below.
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