Based on the latest data (see below), the most popular programming language is Python, followed by JavaScript, Java, C#, PHP, and C++.

Previously Published in 2018
Before I start talking about top programming languages, let’s welcome a new programming language that was announced recently by Microsoft, called Q#. Q#, pronounced as q-sharp, is a new programming language to develop quantum computing-based applications. Check out Q# section on C# Corner to learn more about Q#. Here is a good tutorial on Getting Started with Q# Programming.

Last year, I wrote an article on Programming languages of the year 2017 and the good news is, there is not much that has changed related to the top programming languages. Java, C, C++, and C# were the most popular programming languages in 2017 and they will still be the top languages in 2018.

This article covers top programming languages based on their popularity, demand, and the highest paying jobs.

Most Popular Programming Language

The most popular programming languages are the ones that have the most applications written and available, and this number is not easy to change. Java, C, C++, C#, and Python are the most popular programming languages.

Here is a list of top 10 most popular programming languages according to Inc, ranked from high to low.

  1. Java
  2. Python
  3. C
  4. C++
  5. Ruby
  6. JavaScript
  7. C#
  8. PHP
  9. Objective-C
  10. SQL

Here is a list of programming languages based on the number of available jobs on Indeed.

The following Google Trends compare 5 languages, C, Java, SQL, Python, and JavaScript. C and C++ follow the same trends.

Top Programming Languages

Highest-Paying Programming Language

Java, C, C++, and SQL have been the industry leaders for the past decade or so and are still the most demanding programming languages in the world. Here is a table that lists the salaries for the languages from some of the top-ranking search results in Google. The salaries listed in the following table are for the U.S.A. and all the figures are in U.S. dollars.

Here is a more detailed article, the Highest-Paying Programming Languages Of 2016. However, the numbers shown above do not do it justice, simply because I see C# programmers are getting paid more than $100k in small towns where there are not enough programmers. It is all about supply and demand.

Most In-Demand Programming Languages

The most in-demand programming language can be directly proportional to the number of jobs available in the market. The following lists in-demand languages of 2018 based on the data gathered from Indeed and a report published on CodingDojo.

  1. Java
  2. Python
  3. JavaScript
  4. C++
  5. C#
  6. PHP
  7. Perl

New and upcomers are Swift, R, and Rust.

Business Insider ranks the languages, given below, as the most in-demand.

  1. Java
  2. PHP
  3. C
  4. Objective-C
  5. JavaScript
  6. Visual Basic
  7. Ruby
  8. Python
  9. CSS
  10. R

Based on the recent rise in mobile and Web development, JavaScript and Android skills are in high demand. JavaScript libraries and frameworks such as Angular, Knockout, Backbone, React and Ember are growing rapidly.

Mobile apps are growing at the fastest pace. Thus, there is a need for Android and iOS developers.

The Future

It would not be fair if I do not include the new future needs of programming languages. As I mentioned earlier in this article, Microsoft’s .NET Core will be a software development framework to keep an eye on in 2018 and beyond. The popularity of .NET Core is directly related to the use of C# language.

Conclusion

In this article, we saw the most popular and the highest-paying programming languages of 2016. It doesn’t matter what programming language you choose, most of the top programming languages are in demand, depending on the software, application types, and usages. Your goal should be not to worry about a language; you can become an expert in any language, framework, and the domain in which you work.