Top 3 most popular programming languages in 2018 (and their annual salaries)

Considering the extensive number of the modern programming languages, deciding which one to take by its horns and master can be a strenuous task.

Before deciding on the ‘best’ language to go for, you should evaluate several factors, including your personal preferences and choices.

Bautista, who has more than four years of experience in web development and currently teaches people his skills, says that “one of the best ways to choose the right programming language in 2018 for your use case is to study what is taking place in the technology industry.”

The industry will give you important trends and signals you can use to arrive at your decisions. For example, if you know the programming languages that make the most money in 2018 or are the most popular in 2018, you can suitably adjust the sails to focus on them.

In this post, we are going to evaluate some sources with the intention of coming up with the top three most in demand programming languages 2018.

1. JavaScript

JavaScript is a dynamic programming language that is mostly used for adding interactivity on websites.

It’s usually painted as “beginner friendly,” something which has enhanced its increased usage in the developer community.

Stack Overflow, a popular website that developers use to share their skills, usually does a yearly survey to get useful statistics from the developer community — from their salaries to favorite technologies.

In January 2018, the website surveyed more than 100,000 developers and revealed some interesting statistics.

Here is the Stack Overflow chart that categorizes the programming languages according to their popularity:

As you can see above, the survey revealed that JavaScript is the top programming language 2018, at 69.8% — for the sixth consecutive year.

GitHub, the code-sharing website used by millions of developers from around the world, also mentions that JavaScript is the most commonly used programming language. In a report at the end of 2017, GitHub stated that most of its users rely on JavaScript for their repositories.

Here is the GitHub chart showing the popularity of the programming languages:

Globally, the Stack Overflow survey found out that JavaScript developers make about $55,000 per year. However, developers using the language in the U.S. earn about $98,000 per year.

Indeed.com, a popular employment search website, estimates that a JavaScript developer in the U.S. takes home an average of $110,945 per year.

2. Java

Java is a versatile general-purpose programming language that is used to create cross-platform applications. Regardless of the platform you want to use for deployment — desktop, mobile, or web — Java will meet your needs.

The TIOBE Programming Community Index, which gauges the popularity of the programming languages based on the search engine results, places Java as the most popular language, as of July 2018.

Here is a chart of the TIOBE index:

According to the Stack Overflow survey, Java’s popularity stands at 45.3%, which is the second-best (if HTML, CSS, SQL are not considered — which are mainly non-standalone, supportive languages to the main languages).

In the U.S., the survey found out that Java developers make about $100,000 per year. Similarly, Indeed.com estimates that a U.S.-based Java developer makes an average of $100,873 per year.

3. Python

Python is a powerful high-level programming language that is gaining immense popularity in 2018. Because of its general-purpose nature, it’s extensively used for a wide range of tasks, including web development, machine learning, and analyzing data.

Stack Overflow found out that 38.8% of its users mainly use Python for their projects. According to the website’s survey, Python’s popularity surpassed that of C# in 2018 — just like it surpassed PHP in 2017.

On the GitHub platform, Python surpassed Java as the second-most used programming language, with 40% more pull requests opened in 2017 than in 2016.

Worth mentioning, the continued interest in the field of artificial intelligence could be fueling the demand for Python. In fact, Stack Overflow calls it the “fastest growing major programming language.”

Here is a chart showing the incredible growth of Python:

Globally, the Stack Overflow survey found out that Python developers make about $56,000 per year. In the U.S., Indeed.com estimates that they make an average of $114,811 per year.

Wrapping up

JavaScript, Java, and Python are evidently the best programming languages to learn for jobs in 2018.

Although the survey reports may differ slightly, the three top ranked programming languages are worth learning and including in your developer’s toolbox, especially if you want to take your career to the next level.

You can use this information about the most popular programming languages 2018 to assess whether your programming skills are aligned with the industry trends and the language you can use when starting to build a new software system, especially if you intend to collaborate with other developers.

Which programming language do you like using? Why?

Please let us know in the comment section below.