27 Programming Languages You Should Learn in 2023 (Ranked)
It is essential knowledge for software developers and other computer-related professionals to know what are the most sought-after programming languages moving forward into 2023. Everything in society is operated by programming – computer languages are used to program everything from heart monitors to traffic lights to cellphones. A software developer’s employment requires them to be proficient in several different programming languages. Learning a specific set of programming languages can open up new doors for prospective career paths and be used to create more desirability to be hired in the market. In this guide, I’ll cover a large range of programming languages and their purposes to give you a better idea of what paths you can take as a programmer. What is a Programming Language? Broadly speaking, a programming language is a means of communication between programmers (developers) and computers. A programmer writes some lines in a high-level programming language, which is then translated to a lower-level programming language and machine code for the hardware to operate with and complete the necessary computations. These are all aimed to achieve the task the programmer is trying to communicate, such as calculate an arithmetic problem or generate a set of digits for a new password. In general, a program is a set of instructions created in a certain language (such as Python, SQL or Java) to do a specific purpose. What are the Best Programming Languages to learn in 2023? Below is a list of the best and most relevant Programming Languages for programmers and developers to learn with the current scene in 2023. 1. Python Python is a high-level programming language used for general-purpose programming with a design philosophy that emphasizes code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than would be possible in languages such as C++ or Java. The newest version of the language, Python 3.6, includes many updates and improvements. It has been widely adopted by individuals and businesses large and small across many different industries. Some of the world’s leading companies that use Python include Dropbox, Instagram, AirBnb, Spotify, and Reddit. For all this, Python is without a question, the language to learn in 2023. 2. Javascript JavaScript is a high-level and dynamic programming language and one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Since the HTML5 specification was released, JavaScript was designed primarily to solve the problems related to creating interactive pages. We have started to see a lot more of JavaScript in web applications. Nowadays, It’s mainly used to create a variety of popular applications such as Google Maps and Gmail. 3. C# C# was a language developed by Microsoft and became popular in the 2000s as an Object-Oriented Programming language. It is widely used in the development of Windows, Android and iOS applications. C# can be a useful and flexible language to learn to be applied to many applications and developers are very high in-demand. 4. Go (Formerly Golang) Go, or Golang, was developed by Google for web applications and large cloud systems. Since its introduction, it has been widely adopted and is now used in established companies such as Google, Uber and Dropbox due to its flexibility and simplicity. It has continuously gone toe to toe with big programming languages such as python and in a few years, we may even see Go give a few languages a run for its money. 5. SQL SQL is the acronym for Structured Query Language. SQL is a programming-free database language that lets you manage and execute queries or commands to and from the database. It supports multiple databases, including Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, IBM DB2 and several others. Jobs in SQL mainly revolve around Data Analytics or Application Development that use large amounts of data. 6. Java Java is one of the most popular Object-Oriented Programming languages in the world, mainly used to make websites, games and applications. It appears frequently in the backend of large tech companies such as Google, Twitter, Youtube and Amazon. New Java frameworks are created and are being widely adopted every day. If you can learn java you are well on your way to a successful career as a software developer. 7. Kotlin Kotlin was announced at Google I/O 2016. It’s statically typed programming language and is interoperable with Java, which means that it can be used in existing projects based on the Java ecosystem. Kotlin is also open source and free, just like Java. It is used extensively in Android apps and companies such as Pinterest and Coursera have adopted it. Kotlin is supported by the same people that brought you IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio and Gradle. 8. C The C computer programming language, is a general-purpose programming language designed to be compiled on virtually any computer architecture. The first implementations of the language quickly gained popularity among programmers in the late 1970s and 1980s. There are a huge number of applications built using C as the main or one of the languages. Apple uses Objective C for their iOS (iPhone, iPad) applications and Google uses C for Android based apps. 9. Swift Swift is a general purpose programming language developed by Apple, mainly used for native iOS and macOS development. It was modeled after python for its simplicity and elegance. Many popular applications have been written in swift such as Linkedin, Lyft and even WordPress! It was created with new coders in mind, hence, is a great option to pick up. Especially so if you are looking to dive into app development in the iOS/macOS environment. 10. PHP PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. It was originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, and now runs on more than 20 million websites worldwide. It supports a wide range of databases and has a great community. Since it has been consistently updated and evolving to keep up with trends, it is definitely a great programming language