Programming Language Trends – What’s on the Rise?

Popular trends constantly change. In fashion, one day denim jackets are in, the next they are out. While programming language trends take longer to form, it is also a popularity contest. People base their favoritism towards languages on different factors. For some, the best language is the one with the easiest syntax. For others, complex algorithms or functions motivate them to try harder.

Starting with some good-old statistics

In 2019, Stack Overflow released the results of its annual Developer Survey, collecting opinions from approximately 90,000 developers. The survey crowned JavaScript as the most popular language and jQuery as the most broadly used framework. Furthermore, developers chose the languages that they love to work with the most: Rust, Python, and TypeScript. However, VBA, Objective-C, and Assembly were not as lucky: they gained the label of the most dreaded languages to work with.

However, that was 2019. Let’s take a look at some recent data for comparison. According to the TIOBE Index for February 2020, people are obsessed with Java, C, and Python. What analysis announced this trio as the top choices? Well, the TIOBE Index is generated according to search queries from 25 search engines. In other words, the more people search about a language, the higher ranking it gets on the TIOBE Index.

Statistical information reveals a lot about the preferences of developers. Now, let’s take a look at some programming language trends that beginners and specialists regard as the current top-choices in the programming world.

Python as the leader in data science and machine learning

Nowadays, there is so much data flying around, but people might struggle to find the right tools to implement fruitful analysis. Upskilling has become one important benefit of any company that applicants look for. Without additional training, even the leading individuals of the industry can lose their grip on the leaderboards. One of the most evident programming language trends is the decision to use Python for data analyses. At its core, data science is about managing data, extracting valuable insights from it, and introducing modern solutions to prevalent issues in companies, societies, or industries.

Python offers readable code, easier syntax rules, and the privilege of choosing from tons of libraries and frameworks. Therefore, it became the leading choice for data analysts and programmers. In this case, machine learning is standing closeby, with many specialists training neural networks to recognize patterns in data. Additionally, Python gives you the opportunities to implement the visualization of data, allowing you to transform dull statistics/insights into compelling presentations. Want that for your data? Start learning all there is to Python and investigating data or teaching machines to learn. You won’t have to do all the heavy-lifting since frameworks and libraries will provide you with various resources and tricks.

What does the future hold for programming language trends?

In the IT world, everything is rapidly changing, giving little time for developers and enthusiasts to keep up. Of course, you want to be ahead of the curve. The only way to do this is to follow the improvements in the digital world. In this list, you can find some of the most promising programming language trends to get on board with right now.

  • For a long time, Java has been the go-to language for Android development. In 2019, Google was labeling Kotlin as the preferred choice for developing Android apps. According to the hype, Kotlin code is shorter and easier to maintain: all that good jazz that developers like to hear. In the Stack Overflow Survey, Kotlin is the fourth most beloved language. So, if you are an Android developer, consider jumping on the Kotlin bandwagon right now.

  • Google’s Golang is one of the younger programming languages (around for 11 years). However, it is a beginner-friendly option and a derivative of the C language. Go differs from C in that it offers garbage collection, readable code, and lets developers avoid lengthy code. Even though Go currently does not have a large community of users, specialists emphasize its importance in the years to come. Since Google supports this language, it is predetermined for success.

  • As we have mentioned, TypeScript is one of the popular languages. It is maintained by Microsoft and focused on strict syntactic rules and security. Therefore, if you are working on critical projects that require extensive attention to safety, you should consider using TypeScript, the JavaScript that scales.