Top 5 Programming languages to learn in 2019

Published in

Travelling Developers

6 min readJan 14, 2019

This article will look into the current and future world of programming languages which are empowering the new generation software developers to become a key player in making this digital world more robust, more connected and more meaningful.

In the end, I’ve included four lesser-known languages which gained rapid popularity in the past few years and are expected to be in very high demand in 2019.

Let’s dive right in with the number one pick.

1. JavaScript

JavaScript is the most popular language(sixth year in a row) according to StackOverflow’s annual survey, with 69.8% of respondents claiming to use it. It’s undoubtedly the dominant language of the web and the growth of JavaScript over the past decade has been immense. Having that in mind, it’s safe to say there will be no shortage of JavaScript opportunities in 2018 and beyond.

JavaScript knowledge feeds into plenty of front-end frameworks such as Angular, React, Ember, Backbone, and others, as well as the Node.js run-time environment, which allows you to run JavaScript on the backend with high efficiency.

Top three most popular frameworks for 2018 according to StackOverflow are JavaScript-based (Node.js, Angular, React) with Cordova(not exactly a JavaScript framework) following on the close Seventh.

If you enjoy immediately seeing the results of your work in action, for example making interactive web components, JavaScript is a good idea for you. Tools like Apache Cordova or React Native allow developing mobile applications using JavaScript. It’s even possible to get into game development or desktop app development with Electron.

2. Python

Python is a general-purpose language which you can find almost anywhere today. You’ll find it in web applications, desktop apps, network servers, machine learning, media tools and in some other areas as well. Python is the most wanted language for the second year in a row, meaning that it is the language that developers who do not yet use it often but want to learn.

It’s used by big players like NASA, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Quora, Netflix etc. Python code is neat, readable, and well-structured. Proper indentation is not just for beauty here — it determines code execution. Python-based web development frameworks like Django and Flask have been gaining more and more popularity. Also, the language is heavily equipped with quality machine learning and data analysis libraries like Scikit-learn, Pandas, Tenserflow, OpenCV etc.

The continued growth and demand for machine learning developers is driving the popularity of Python. On the whole, career paths with Python are various. It’s a good choice for beginner programmers, as it’s high-level and easy to read and comprehend.

3. Java

Java is one of the most popular programming languages as 90% of the Fortune 500 companies heavily use it. Its famous slogan “write once, run anywhere” captures one of the keys that makes Java so valuable — its powerful Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which makes it cross-platform compatible.

Popular career paths with Java are backend developer, big data developer, embedded systems engineer, or Android developer. Although not the most “trendy” language at the moment, Java is so heavily used that it is pretty much guaranteed that it won’t go anywhere in the next decade and beyond.

Because of this, you can be confident that there are plenty of Java job positions both in your city and remotely, which can’t be said for some of the less popular languages on this list. Thus, if you are comfortable with Java, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll find the right place.

4. C++

C++ is an extension of the old-school “C” programming language first created back in 1985. It is a highly efficient and flexible language. It has remained in high demand due to its performance, reliability, and variety of contexts you can use it in.

Plenty of large systems have been created and maintained successfully using C++, including the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, PayPal, and Adobe.

A career with C++ typically involves developing desktop applications, especially for performance-intensive tasks. While rather complex, getting comfortable with C++ would give you a deeper understanding of how languages work, for example by giving facilities for low-level memory manipulation.

5. Swift

Swift is a relatively new programming language released by Apple in 2014. This is a language for developing native iOS or macOS applications. It is considered an improvement in terms of usability and performance compared to Objective-C — the language used for Apple’s iOS and macOS operating systems.

Swift is generally favored by developers, standing at #6 in the list of most loved languages for 2018, after being #1 in 2015. If you pick up a career with Swift, chances are you would enjoy it.

If you want to get into mobile development, you should definitely consider Swift as a high-paid career path. Generally, iOS apps have proven to be more profitable than Android apps.

Language to watch out in 2019:

1. Go

Go is fifth in the list of most loved and third in the list of most wanted language at the StackOverflow surveys. Go (often referred to as Golang) is a statically typed, compiled programming language designed at Google. Go is syntactically similar to C, but with the added benefits of memory safety, garbage collection, structural typing, and CSP-style concurrency.

2. R

R is a programming language and environment used for statistics, graphic representation and data analysis. R is used by many large companies including Uber, Google, Airbnb, Facebook and so on. It is the #1 choice for data scientists. If you find yourself interested in this field, then R is a stable and profitable career choice for you.

3. Kotlin

Kotlin was designed by JetBrains and now it is officially supported by Google for mobile development on Android. According to JetBrains blog, Kotlin is used by Amazon Web Services, Pinterest, Coursera, Netflix, Uber, Square, Trello, Evernote, and others. According to StackOverflow Surveys Kotlin is Second in the list of most loved language and fourth in the list of most wanted language for the year 2018.

Summary:

Software Industry is an ever-evolving industry, it changes with every new update or release. So, picking up the best programming language is really hard. I have mentioned the use of programming languages in various fields in this article, now it’s up to you as a developer in which field you want to start your carrier. Try to pick up the language which is best suited as per your interest in various fields.