Programming languages are key to successfully functioning software applications. These languages have been designed to perform a specific task and they are used to develop different types of software applications. Languages are the core part of any software product.
In this article, I have compiled a list of the top programming languages that will be most in demand for software development in 2024.
Table of Contents
Top 10 programming languages you should learn for software development
Python
Python is also used for major software projects such as Blender, Inkscape, and many more. This programming language is easy to read and write. It has gained popularity in the software development industry due to its concise code and syntax readability. There are many programming languages that you can use to create a website; however, Python can also be used for web development.
One of the biggest advantages of using Python is that it allows the developers to write their codes in fewer lines. If you are a business willing to use python, you have a wide scope of anchors: developing different types of computer applications using it. Because with python, explaining a concept logically is very easy in comparison to other programming languages.
Javascript
Javascript is the top programming language for web developers and is also used in building interactive web pages. It is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web and it is supported by all modern web browsers without any additional plugins.
Having a human-readable syntax, developers can easily write high-level programs using this language. It offers great features to support object-oriented programming including objects, classes, inheritance, and modularity. Javascript can be used on both frontend & backend development.
PHP
PHP is often used when developing websites because it works great with HTML and web servers like Apache or Nginx./n/nIt’s a good choice if you’re starting because it’s not that difficult to learn and there are many resources online to help you get started with your projects easily.
Java
Java is a general-purpose programming language. Initially, this was developed at Sun Microsystems by James Gosling in 1990 which was later acquired by Oracle. It is an object-oriented programming language that allows developers to develop applications for multiple platforms with the same source code. Java has been used in many industries and many third-party libraries can make your job easier.
Kotlin
Kotlin is a general-purpose, open-source language that we have seen gaining significant traction across the industry. It’s a statically typed programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine and also can be compiled to JavaScript source code or use the LLVM compiler infrastructure. Kotlin was created by JetBrains, who also developed IntelliJ IDEA, so it has great IDE support.
Many companies are adopting Kotlin as the development language for their Android apps because of its interoperability with Java and its simplicity over Java. Kotlin gets the first-class support of Google on Android. Some of the companies already using Kotlin are Netflix, Pinterest, Trello, Uber, and Square.
Go
A team at Google has developed this open-source programming language. It combines the best features of both dynamic and statically typed languages and offers programmers the opportunity to write efficient code at scale. Since it has been available for only about six years, many developers are still coming to grips with its idiosyncrasies. However, this is expected to change over the next few years as more programmers become familiar with GO and its exciting features.
Ruby
Yukihiro Matsumoto developed this language which was later released in 1995. It is a dynamic, object-oriented, and open-source programming language. The purpose behind using Ruby is to create websites and web apps. In comparison with other languages, the syntax of Ruby is easier to learn. And it also makes use of a DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle which makes it easier to maintain the code.
Rails are a bunch of libraries written using Ruby on Rails and they help to create a website as quickly as possible. Ruby’s success can be attributed to its ease of use, extensive community support, robust libraries, active contributor base, and demand in the market. If you aspire to start a career in web development then learning Ruby is highly recommended.
R
Apart from being a programming language, R also acts as a software environment for graphics and other statistical computing. It is one of the most used languages in data science and analytics and has been ranked as the number one language for data science by the IEEE Spectrum Ranking.
R is primarily used for predictive modeling and statistical analysis. Its focus is on handling large amounts of data, providing tools for data visualization, and providing high-level abstractions for statistical models. It is one of the top picks for time series analysis.
Swift
You don’t need to be a master programmer to realize that Swift is the future of iOS app development. First released in 2014, Swift quickly became the most popular language for Apple app development and is now used by thousands of developers around the world. Best of all, since it’s open-source, you can use Swift for Android as well. The language is constantly being updated by Apple and the developer community, and it’s easy to learn and write. Despite being an experienced professional, you’ll be surprised to see how quickly you can pick up Swift.
C/C++
C and C++ are very powerful programming languages that are still used frequently today. Though not as dominant as they once were, these languages are still quite popular for their ability to build systems-level software and their high performance for lower-level computing, making them particularly useful for embedded systems. Additionally, C and C++ have both been around so long that a large amount of legacy code is written in these languages or built on top of these languages. For that reason, it would be unwise to completely discount the impact of either language on the future of software development.
Conclusion
Learning a programming language is a tedious task but the bright side of it is that these languages will be in great demand in 2024 as per the current software development trends. Hence, if you choose to go on learning one of these languages today, you will find a plethora of opportunities ahead.
