If you’re new to the field of software development, the toughest part of learning programming is deciding where to begin. There are hundreds of programming languages in widespread use, each with its own complexities and idiosyncrasies.
Programming languages and computer coding have made life simpler for us. Whether it’s automobiles, banks, home appliances, or hospitals, every aspect of our lives depends on codes. No wonder, coding is one of the core skills required by most well-paying jobs today. Coding skills are especially of value in the IT, data analytics, research, web designing, and engineering segments.
Whether you want to develop a mobile application, get certification for programming knowledge, or learn new skills, you need to learn the right programming language. Below you’ll learn about 10 popular programming languages that will be in demand among employers in 2021. You’ll find about each language, its complexity, and how it is used.
Best Programming Languages to Learn in 2021
1. Python
Python is one of the most commonly used programming languages today and is easy for beginners to learn because of its readability. It is a free, open-source programming language with extensive support modules and community development, easy integration with web services, user-friendly data structures, and GUI-based desktop applications. It is a popular programming language for machine learning and deep learning applications.
Python is a language that every programmer should be able to use. Not only is Python’s syntax intuitive and easy-to-learn syntax, but it is used in fields that are predicted to rise in 2021, namely machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Python is the preferred language for machine learning and data science due to its popular ML libraries such as Pandas and Scikit-learn. Anyone interested in pursuing a career in data science must know Python.
Python is used to develop 2D imaging and 3D animation packages like Inkscape, Blender, and Autodesk. Python is used for scientific and computational applications like FreeCAD and Abacus and also by popular websites like YouTube, Quora, Pinterest, and Instagram. Python developers earn average annual salaries of about $72,500. It has also been used to create popular video games, including Civilization IV, Vegas Trike, and Toontown.
2. JavaScript
What this language is used for:
- Web development
- Game development
- Mobile apps
- Building web servers
JavaScript was created by Brendan Eich in 1995 during his time at Netscape Communications. It was inspired by Java, Scheme and Self.
JavaScript is a scripting language that is one of the three core languages used to develop websites. Whereas HTML and CSS give a website structure and style, JavaScript lets you add functionality and behaviors to your website, allowing your website’s visitors to interact with content in many imaginative ways.
JavaScript is used to manage the behavior of web pages. With it, coders can create dynamic web elements such as animated graphics, interactive maps, clickable buttons and more. Programmers who use HTML, CSS and JavaScript in tandem obtain a higher level of website control and can provide a better user experience in terms of navigation and readability.
JavaScript is primarily a client-side language, meaning it runs on your computer within your browser. However, more recently the introduction of Node.js has allowed JavaScript to also execute code on servers.
Since its release, JavaScript has surpassed Java, Flash, and other languages because it is relatively easy to learn, has a free and open community, and, most importantly, is incredibly useful, allowing developers to quickly create apps with audiences in the millions.
3. Kotlin
Kotlin is an open-source statically typed programming language that targets the JVM, Android, JavaScript and Native. It’s developed by JetBrains. The project started in 2010 and was open source from very early on. The first official 1.0 release was in February 2016.
Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language that is completely interoperable with Java and supports functional programming. Kotlin is used most commonly to develop Android apps, web applications, desktop applications, and server-side applications. It’s the ideal language for anyone interested in those careers.
The currently released version is 1.5.0, published on May 5, 2021.
4. PHP
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, but it now stands for the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.
PHP is among the most popular backend programming language. Though PHP is facing tough competition from Python and JavaScript, the market still needs a large number of PHP developers. Those who wish to join a reasonably well old organization as a backend developer should aim to learn PHP programming.
The currently released version is PHP 8.0.5., published on May 6, 2021.