Top 10 programming language in 2019

In this post I'm going to talk about the best programming languages to learn in 2018.

1. JavaScript
2. Python
3. C#
4. Java
5. PHP
6. Go
7. Swift
8. Rust
9. Kotlin
10. C & C++

JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming languagecommonly used in web development. It was originally developed by Netscape as a means to add dynamic and interactive elements to websites. While JavaScript is influenced by Java, the syntax is more similar to C and is based on ECMAScript, a scripting language developed by Sun Microsystems.

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language, which means the source code is processed by the client's web browserrather than on the web server. This means JavaScript functions can run after a webpage has loaded without communicating with the server. For example, a JavaScript function may check a web form before it is submitted to make sure all the required fields have been filled out. The JavaScript code can produce an error message before any information is actually transmitted to the server.

Python

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented programming language similar to PERL, that has gained popularity because of its clear syntax and readability. Python is said to be relatively easy to learn and portable, meaning its statements can be interpreted in a number of operating systems, including UNIX-based systems, Mac OS, MS-DOS, OS/2, and various versions of Microsoft Windows 98. Python was created by Guido van Rossum, a former resident of the Netherlands, whose favorite comedy group at the time was Monty Python's Flying Circus. The source code is freely available and open for modification and reuse. Python has a significant number of users.

C#

C# is a hybrid of C and C++, it is a Microsoft programming language developed to compete with Sun's Java language. C# is an object-oriented programming language used with XML-based Web services on the .NET platform and designed for improving productivity in the development of Web applications.

C# boasts type-safety, garbage collection, simplified type declarations, versioning and scalability support, and other features that make developing solutions faster and easier, especially for COM+ and Web services. Microsoft critics have pointed to the similarities between C# and Java

Topics

• Webinars
• Java

Java is a programming language that produces software for multiple platforms. When a programmer writes a Java application, the compiled code (known as bytecode) runs on most operating systems (OS), including Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Java derives much of its syntax from the C and C++ programming languages.

Java was developed in the mid-1990s by James A. Gosling, a former computer scientist with Sun Microsystems.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

PHP is a script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers. PHP, originally derived from Personal Home Page Tools, now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, which the PHP FAQ describes as a "recursive acronym."

PHP executes on the server, while a comparable alternative, JavaScript, executes on the client. PHP is an alternative to Microsoft's Active Server Page(ASP) technology. As with ASP, the PHP script is embedded within a Web page along with its HTML. Before the page is sent to a user that has requested it, the Web server calls PHP to interpret and perform the operations called for in the PHP script.

An HTML page that includes a PHP script is typically given a file name suffix of ".php" ".php7," or ".phtml". Like ASP, PHP can be thought of as "dynamic HTML pages," since content will vary based on the results of interpreting the script. 

Go is

Go

Now, Go is interesting. Why is Go so good here? Okay. So the usage on this was only 8%, but the people that were saying that it's going to be adopted or migrated too soon was 11%. It was actually one of the few languages that had a higher migration than it did have a current usage.

What does that mean? To me, that's simple. That means growth. That means that more and more companies are going to start using Go and are migrating to Go. That's a good one to learn for 2018, honestly. It's not the easiest language to learn, but it's a really good language. Like I said, I've taught a course on Go. I was an early adopter on Go. I really think that the technology is good and it's a language that is growing. There's a good opportunity here.

This is one of those languages where I think there's not enough Go developers and that ecosystem can be expanded a lot, especially if you want to create frameworks and things like that. If you're willing to invest some time and learn Go, and become an expert, you're going to be in high demand. There's not going to be as many jobs right now, but I think in 2018, you'll see more of them and you're going to see that there's not enough people to fill those positions. If all of these companies are migrating to Go and you don’t have enough Go developers, this is a good place to be.

Again, if you want just all out highest demand, C#, Java, JavaScript, PHP. Those are going to be high demand positions. Go is going to be more specialized, but it's an interesting language to learn. It's a good one and there's a lot of growth opportunities as I see it. I think Go has been around long enough that I can recommend it and say that it's going to continue to grow. It's not going to go down. Sometimes a language comes out and you're like, “Yeah, I'm not sure,” but in this case, I would recommend Go.

Swift

This is tough here. But I pick Swift. I pick Swift for a couple of reasons. One, iPhones. That's not going away anytime soon. Even though there's really good solutions like C# to do cross platform development using Xamarin and there's a lot of cross platform stuff, so many more apps are being developed on iOS and that's kind of the flagship. A lot of companies are developing that or they're basically getting to the point now where they're saying, “Hey, look. We're going to do iOS and Android. We're just going to do them and we're not going to worry about any other platforms. We don’t worry about a cross platform solution.” Swift is a go-to language, the winning language for iPhone, for iOS at this point.

Now, iOS is expanding. Obviously, you've got the watch now, the wearables. You've got iOS, the TV, and you've got obviously the phones and the iPads. There's a huge, huge market and this is the market that actually makes money. Every company now pretty much has to have an iOS app. That's why I think Swift is a good idea. I would not invest in Objective C, not at this point. It doesn’t make any sense. Swift is a better language overall and there's a lot of opportunities. When I look at the surveys, again, Swift is popping up for the first time. I mean it's a new language, but, again, it's one of those ones too on the Stack Overflow Survey. I'll tell you right here. Up with Go, Swift has 9% of developers that said they use it regularly, but it has 11% saying that they're going to adopt or migrate to it. That's another huge, huge growth opportunity. If you're going to learn a new programming language, you want to move into a growth opportunity. If you're going to do iOS development, bar none, I would recommend that you go to Swift.

Also, you know, the other good thing about it was that Swift was up there on the charts from one of the most beloved languages. It was actually number four which doesn’t seem very high, but when you look at this it was—number one was Rust. Number two is Smalltalk. I mean, really? Come on, Smalltalk? Number three is TypeScript which—that doesn’t really count and then number four was Swift. Again, see, this is one of those things with these surveys. It's just like, “Why is TypeScript on there?” You're not going to like—you're not going to be—TypeScript is not the language that you're going to learn like you're going to get a job with it. Not really. You got to know JavaScript in order to do TypeScript. I don’t understand some of this, but okay.

Rust

We're moving on. Next one is—this one might be a surprise as well. Rust. Now, why did I put Rust on here? Okay. If I look at the surveys, where is Rust falling? On some of these, it's not even showing up, but it does show up as the number one most loved language, again, on that Stack Overflow Survey. What does that tell me? What does that tell me here? It tells me that this is a really good language that developers like.

Again, this is a very small market. There's not a lot of companies using Rust. I haven’t seen it take off, but if developers like Rust the most, this is something to really consider, especially if you're thinking—if you already have some programming language and you're thinking about getting into a new programming language that you would like to learn. Maybe not for a beginner. If you're a beginner, maybe don't start with Rust. If you are an experienced programmer and you're looking for a new language in 2018, Rust is a pretty good choice because developers love this language. This reminds of Ruby back in the day when everyone was so in love with Ruby because it was a fun language to work in.

I've done a little bit of Rust work and I really liked the language. I'd like to dive into it more, but I'm not really doing technical stuff anymore except every once in a while. It's a good language to bet on. It's not one to like bet your career on, but I would say that if developers like this language so much that it's got a good chance of gaining some ground and popularity, and possibly at some point displacing C and C++ for a low-level type of language.

Again, I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball. Again, I wouldn't bet my whole career on this. If you're already an experienced developer, you already have some experience on your belt, it might make sense to try and go down the Rust path, trying to build some expertise there and see if you can get some highly paid consulting gigs doing Rust stuff, because it's going to be rare to find Rust developers.

Kotlin

Kotlin is the new kid on the block for Android. Again, I put this down on the list because I'm still not 100% sure. It looks like most Android development is going to go this direction like Objective C switched to Swift, but I'm not 100% sure on this. I think it's worth—if you're going to learn a new programming language, again, if you're going to give in the Android development, it's a lot better. It's easier to use than Java and it's basically got native Android support right now. It's fully supported in Android Studio (the Android development IDE) and there's a lot of really easy ways to get started with Kotlin to develop Android apps.

Again, it's that whole battle between iOS and Android. If you're going to go the Android route, I'm learning Kotlin, if I'm developing for iOS, I'm learning Swift. If you're just doing Android development you could go down the Java route, but it probably makes sense to just go with Kotlin. It's becoming really popular. It's one of those ones that could fade out but it's not looking that way. That's why I haven’t ranked it so high up there on the list, but I still think it's a good one. This is another one that if you're an experienced developer, you might take a risk and learn and see where it goes so you have that skill set. This is something you could freelance.

C & C++

I've done some videos where I've talked about how you shouldn’t learn C or C++, but I will say this, as a beginner, don’t. Start with Java or C# (or both) and then think about learning C and C++ later. As an experienced developer, if you are looking for a new language to learn in 2018, as much as I think that C++ and C is going to die, it's not. It's not going to die. There is so much going on. VR is “resurrecting” C and C++ development because VR games are very computationally intensive. A lot of mathematics, heavy mathematics. If you're going to go into the VR world, C and C++ might be a good choice for you, especially with the Unreal Engine to be able to learn how to do that, which is becoming popular in the VR stuff, Oculus Rift and whatnot. I don’t see that going away. I see the future going that direction and we need a lot of horsepower to be able to do this stuff.

Right now, Rust is not an option for doing this kind of stuff. C and C++ is. I've put them together. Again, they show up in the top of the surveys as well. It's really hard for me to deny it. Even though I have a personal bias and I would say that. Again, I used to love C++. I used to be an expert on that language, but I just feel like it's not a very good beginner language and I feel like there's other more efficient languages today. Like I said, I can't go against the grain just like—I may not like the language, but I have to say that it's a good one for 2018. But I would not recommend it if it were not for VR. I believe VR changes the game here and makes it so that I can actually recommend C and C++. Not for a beginner but for someone who is experienced.