Solidity is Twice as Popular as the Next Blockchain Coding Language
Sorry, JavaScript. Smart contracts are in the ascendency. But will eWASM change the game?
A new report by The Next Web’s Hard Fork analyzed data compiled by StackOverflow to chart the most popular coding languages used by developers working on blockchain.
The study, which searched StackOverflow for questions tagged as ‘blockchain,’ queried 2724 entries and found that Solidity—the current language of Ethereum smart contract implementation—by far outranked every other coding language in frequency.
In fact, Solidity appeared approximately twice as much as the next referenced language — the ever-present JavaScript — with 9.5% of total mentions compared to JavaScript’s 4.8%.
Via Hard Fork: “Solidity appeared a total of 259 times. JavaScript was mentioned in 130 questions, followed by Java with 71 mentions. Python and Google‘s Go complete the top five, with 66 and 58 mentions respectively.”
Quorum, utilized for developing Ethereum-based permissioned networks, garnered 30 mentions, with C# (25), RIDE (22), and C++(13) rounding out the top ten.
Here’s the same data presented in percentage form…
So while these numbers are highly encouraging for Ethereum developers, will the trend continue to play out in this pattern into 2020 and Ethereum 2.0?
“I’m watching closely to see if Solidity maintains the top position as eWASM (Ethereum flavored Web Assembly) comes out,” says Kevin Owocki of Gitcoin. “All of the WASM-based languages (Javascript, Python, Java, Go) are widely adopted, and after eWASM they could all be used to write smart contracts on Ethereum—and even secondary smart contract platforms. It’s possible that we could see an influx of web3 developers into the Ethereum space, and a Cambrian explosion of new smart contracts created as a result.”
Although the Hard Fork study’s methodology isn’t quite watertight, it surely is effective in extrapolating a picture of this early stage of blockchain development. On a grander scale, Solidity doesn’t crack the top ten of all coding languages referenced on StackOverflow. So although the transition from Web2 to Web3 continues to pick up steam, clearly there’s still a long way to go!
The freshly released Blockchain Jobs Report, 2019 cited a LinkedIn Emerging Jobs report that stated 2018 had seen a 33x increase in blockchain developer jobs. Further data showed that blockchain developer salaries range from $125,000 to $195,000 per annum, and that the blockchain industry has a marked propensity towards remote work. And with global enterprises like IBM, Ernst & Young, and Oracle hiring alongside startups like ConsenSys and Axiom Zen, it’s clear that blockchain development — and Solidity — are very much on the up.
If you’re a coder or software developer looking to get into blockchain, there are few great places to start. The Ethereum Developer Portal has a comprehensive list of everything you’ll need to get going, as does this comprehensive list of Ethereum developer tools. ConsenSys Academy has a wealth of courses and webinars to get you up to speed, and once you’re ready, the Blockchain Developer Job Kit can help you put those tools to use.
Disclaimer. The views, information, and opinions expressed are solely those by the author above do not necessarily represent the views of Consensys AG. They are meant for informational purposes only, are not intended to serve as a recommendation or investment advice to buy or sell any securities, cryptoassets, or other financial products.
