What is the most popular programming language in the world? If you search in Google you will find so many articles on this topic.
Actually, it is very difficult to find the exact number of users of a programming language, and most of the data collected is very vague. In this article, I will try to shed some light on the topic and list the world’s most popular computer programming languages based on data collected from various online resources.
TIOBE Index is one of the measurements. If you look at the
TIOBE Index published for 2016 and compare it with 2015, you will see the rankings for 2016 and also previous rankings in 2015.
| Language | 2016 | 2015 |
| Java | 1 | 1 |
| C | 2 | 2 |
| C++ | 3 | 3 |
| C# | 4 | 5 |
| Python | 5 | 8 |
| PHP | 6 | 7 |
| JavaScript | 7 | 6 |
| Perl | 8 | 12 |
| Ruby | 9 | 18 |
| Visual Basic.NET | 10 | 10 |
| Delphi | 11 | 11 |
| Assembly Language | 12 | 29 |
| Objective-C | 13 | 4 |
| Visual Basic | 14 | 9 |
| Swift | 15 | 24 |
| MATLAB | 16 | 14 |
| PL/SQL | 17 | 17 |
| R | 18 | 19 |
| Groovy | 19 | 43 |
| D | 20 | 38 |
From the above table, you can clearly see that C# has jumped to #4 from #5. Clearly, Objective-C has dropped to #4 from #13 and you can easily blame Swift for that, which has jumped to #15 from #24. Both Objective-C and Swift are used to build Apple iOS apps.
You may have also noticed that Visual Basic is clearly on the way out now while Visual Basic.NET still holds its spot. However, I don’t see Visual Basic .NET staying there for long. C# is clearly the primary language to build .NET applications.
Assembly language has also shown a major jump and you could blame hardware, IoT, and other device innovations for that. There is also a move in Groovy and D languages that have made the top 20 list.
Besides the above ranking, here are three other rankings I found that looked promising.
| GitHut | RedMonk | Jobs Tractor |
| JavaScript | JavaScript | Java |
| Java | Java | Objective-C |
| Python | PHP | PHP |
| CSS | Python | SQL |
| PHP | C# | Java(Android) |
| Ruby | C++ | C# |
| C++ | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Ct | CSS | Python |
| Shell | C | Ruby |
| C# | Objective-C | C++ |
Now, from the above list, I can clearly say that JavaScript is not “the most popular” programming language. It may be the most talked-about language on these websites and forums.
Anyway, no matter how you slice a pie, you will find Java, C, and C++ the top 3 programming languages. The next three in the list are C#, Python, and PHP.
Should you start learning Java, C, or C++?
OK, let me be very clear. Being the most popular programming language does not mean it is commercially being used by more companies or it has more jobs, or it pays more, or it is growing. It your goal is to get hired faster, you probably don't need Java, C, or C++ at all. A company is probably hiring application developers (Web and mobile). Besides Android programmer, Java, C, or C++ are not popular for Web development or mobile. I run a software development company. I work with many recruiters and clients who are hiring. I hardly being asked for C or C++ jobs. There are some Java jobs. But most of the jobs I am being asked to fill are .NET (C#), PHP, Ruby (Rails), iOS, and Android.
Will you make more money learning Java?
Not really. Salaries has nothing to do with popularity of a language. Check out some recommended links at the bottom of this article. I am working on most paid programming language and most wanted programming language. Stay tuned for those articles.
Conclusion
I’ve been a programmer for 18 years. I do understand all of the above data is collected from various public online resources and makes some sense, but one thing we need to keep in mind is that developers who are involved in startups and hobby work are more likely to talk about a language publicly than the developers who work for a corporation. More startups and hobbyist developers do use open source (well, now C# and .NET is open source as well) and hence like to talk about them socially. So that may have been a factor in capturing some of the popularity of a language.
As a conclusion, languages C, C++, Java, C#, and Python/PHP are the most popular programming languages.
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Mojtaba AzaraniPosted Jan 17, 2017, 4:57 AM
Thanks .....
Joe WilsonPosted Jan 16, 2017, 5:51 AM
Thank you very much for sharing.
Jaco ZwartsPosted Jan 16, 2017, 1:52 AM
Interesting thank you for sharing
Ganesh MeghalePosted Jan 16, 2017, 1:00 AM
Worthy reading it!!! Great stuff.
Nigel FernandesPosted Jan 15, 2017, 5:47 PM
Good to know. I started my career in VB.Net and then moved to C#, there are a lot of people who love VB.Net .
Manav PandyaPosted Sep 14, 2016, 5:18 AM
Really promising sir ....
Vivek KumarPosted Sep 9, 2016, 3:21 AM
Very nice info
Vignesh ManiPosted Sep 8, 2016, 6:55 PM
Nice one Sir
SubashPosted Sep 8, 2016, 2:39 AM
Thanks for this useful information sir
Tarun DPosted Sep 8, 2016, 12:56 AM
Thanks for sharing Sir..
Nemilidinne AshokreddyPosted Sep 8, 2016, 12:54 AM
Nice information
Shobana JPosted Jul 13, 2016, 5:14 AM
Thanks for ur sharing sir
Sam HobbsPosted May 22, 2016, 5:43 PM
As for VB .Net, Basic is less cryptic than C# and I assume many consider that to be an advantage. Half a century ago COBOL was designed to be used by non-programmers and I think there are still people that want a language that requires less technical commitment.
Sam HobbsPosted May 22, 2016, 5:38 PM
Do we know what processor the assembly language is being used for more? A variety of processors can be used for IoT and it would be interesting to know if it is just one type of processor or most any processor used for IoT.
sachith wickramaarachchiPosted May 10, 2016, 1:59 PM
Thanks for sharing
Humayun Kabir MamunPosted May 3, 2016, 1:08 AM
Thanks for sharing...
Ashish SrivastavaPosted Apr 29, 2016, 5:26 AM
Good article
Kishor Bikram OliPosted Apr 28, 2016, 1:07 PM
Helpful. Thank you sir!
Abdu RafeeqPosted Apr 27, 2016, 3:22 AM
nice info
Kantesh SinhaPosted Apr 27, 2016, 1:17 AM
Really NIce Sir..You made our view clear towards every programming language.Thanks for Sharing
Nishant MittalPosted Apr 27, 2016, 12:18 AM
Mahesh I think in today's world we need to be flexible according to work.We should be adaptable to any language and open for all ..then only we can survive ...and there is no limit of salaries then.
Bhavik PatelPosted Apr 26, 2016, 10:25 PM
love to see C# at first place in 2017
Debasis SahaPosted Apr 26, 2016, 10:18 AM
Nice One..
NitinPosted Apr 26, 2016, 4:51 AM
Thanks a lot for sharing this information Sir
Rupali ShindePosted Apr 26, 2016, 4:03 AM
thanks for sharing this information.. Today's Market most of the opportunity are for C# & Scripting languages. now a days we can build android app using C# & VS.
Gowtham RajamanickamPosted Apr 26, 2016, 2:53 AM
good article
Bhuvanesh MohankumarPosted Apr 26, 2016, 2:20 AM
Good info Mahesh Chand, Hope C# will be in Rank #1 soon :)
Thiruppathi RPosted Apr 26, 2016, 1:34 AM
Great News..tnks
Rajeesh MenothPosted Apr 25, 2016, 11:49 PM
"C" Language started as a hero and C& C++ are the Central born of every object oriented language !! Many people derived new concepts from it.So today people say java is best but reality is different :).Thanks for sharing sir
Hari ShankerPosted Apr 25, 2016, 11:24 PM
Thanks for Sharing Mahesh Chand sir
Mahesh ChandPosted Apr 25, 2016, 8:44 PM
Good points and comments guys. I have updated the article based on the comments. So let me be clear. Just because Java is most popular (colleges, academics, systems) does not mean there are more Java jobs or it pays more.
Vivek KumarPosted Apr 25, 2016, 2:58 PM
useful information.
Nitesh KejriwalPosted Apr 25, 2016, 2:28 PM
And yesterday, we're discussing why people still need to learn Java as freshers because apart from MNCs, no SMEs work on Java. They either work on .Net, PhP, Swift, Javascript. This list gives me the answer. Thanks for sharing
Sandeep Singh ShekhawatPosted Apr 25, 2016, 1:07 PM
Yeah ! Just a note, Most popular programming language doesn't mean create more jobs. Developer must not be influenced by market data rather than choose language as per own interest. No matter what position C# hold but I like it :)
Amit DiwanPosted Apr 25, 2016, 12:50 PM
Yay! That's correct, Java rules the list. The ranking and popularity of Java can be related to the following link stating the importance of Java - http://www.java.com/en/about/ #1 Choice for developers!
Kuppurasu NagarajPosted Apr 25, 2016, 12:04 PM
Very useful information sir..
Gowtham RajamanickamPosted Apr 25, 2016, 10:00 AM
good article..
Upendra Pratap ShahiPosted Apr 25, 2016, 9:55 AM
nice information shared.... thanks for sharing..