Introduction

Did you know that there are over 700 programming languages that exist right now. But within hundreds of these languages, there is an established hierarchy based on their popularity, prevalence and relevance.

Before we delve further into the languages and their popularity, it is important to define what a programming language is and why it’s important.

What is a Programming Language?

Just like we humans use language to communicate with each other and convey our emotions and messages, we also needed a ‘language’ to convey our messages to computers in order to instruct them to perform a certain command.

These set of instructions are known as ‘Programming languages’. They contain a set of rules that convert strings, or graphical program elements in the case of visual programming languages, to various kinds of machine code output.

If all languages perform the same function, why do we have so many different programming languages?

The reason why there are many programming languages out there is that different problems require different tools to solve them.

Each programming language has certain features and characteristics that make it suitable for specific tasks. Some languages are better suited for developing mobile applications, whereas some are geared towards web development.

Having set the context, let’s move to a list of six most popular languages below.

We have categorized them on the basis of a 2022 Stack Overflow Survey in which over 71000 developers from all over the world participated and chose their preferred language.

1. JavaScript

Ranking first consecutively since the past ten years, 65.36% developers use JavaScript for coding. Created by Brendan Eich in December 1995, JavaScript is used in almost 98% websites worldwide for webpage behavior.

Major companies like Amazon, Google and PayPal have incorporated JavaScript in their websites. Apart from being relatively easy to learn, JavaScript has a low compilation time since it is a client-side script.

Additionally, JS is highly interoperable and works perfectly with other languages and therefore numerous developers prefer it in developing many applications.

JavaScript can be used for both front-end and back-end development. Back-end development uses NodeJS while libraries like ReactJS and AngularJS are used for front-end development.

2. Python

Picked by 48.07% developers, Python is a general purpose programming language that was designed by Guido van Rossum in February 1991 and has remained a very popular web development language over the years.

One of the reasons behind Python’s popularity is that it’s incredibly easy to learn and has a simplified syntax, which beginners find easy to comprehend. It is estimated that the total number of Python developers worldwide is over 27 million.

Extensive language documentation, large yet supportive developer community have also contributed to the language’s growth over the years. Additionally, Python is highly compatible with multiple operating systems including Linux, Windows, MacOS and FreeBSD.

Besides being object-oriented, Python’s extensive libraries and framework include NumPy, TensorFlow, Django, Flask etc. whose uses range from data visualization, machine learning, data science, natural language processing, and complex data analysis

3. Java

Ranking third on the list is Java (33.27%), an open-source and object-oriented programming language created by James Gosling in May 1995.

Java is used to develop web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps, games and the manner in which it eases writing, compilation and debugging has contributed to its prevalence even after nearly three decades.

Java is super useful due to its cross-platform capability, which means that Java compiled code can run across all operating systems without having to tweak it.

Moreover, it is an object-oriented language which eases trouble shooting, code re-usability, reduces data redundancy and you can create modular programs with tit.

Java is used by some of the most well-known companies in the world including Airbnb, Google, eBay, Spotify and Groupon.

4. C#

Fourth on the list of most popular languages is C# (27.98%), a general purpose, object-oriented programming language designed by Anders Hejlsberg in 2000. C# has found use in developing cloud-based services, games, mobile and desktop apps, websites.

Some standout features of C# include its ability to reuse components for faster development and its flexible, bug-free data types. C# has a wide range of components that can easily boost any project.

Moreover, it has an automatic garbage collection which ensures that the system does not stall during execution time. Its cross-platform ability, coupled with a strong memory backup have given C# an edge over languages such as C, C++.

5. C++

22.55% respondents chose C++ as their first-choice programming language, making it the fifth most popular language.

A general purpose, cross-platform language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1985, C++ has found massive use in game development, Counter Strike, Word of Warcraft and StarCraft being some of the most popular games.

C++ is a multi-paradigm language, which includes logic, structure, and procedure of the program. This makes it a popular choice for database tools like MongoDB and MySQL, which are used extensively by Adobe, Google, YouTube, Netflix etc.

C++ has also been incorporated in web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. It is used to develop back-end services that fetch data stored in databases and render code into interactive web pages.

6. C

Picked by 19.27% developers, C is one of the oldest general purpose programming language developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1972 that still remains very popular till date.

C language has found quite useful application in the development of video games, applications using GUI, databases, cloud computing and embedded systems in particular.

C is a portable language. It was designed to be compiled with different compilers and can run on most hardware platforms. In this way, you don't have to know everything about the memory layout of your machine to write programs for it.

C is an ideal choice for implementing algorithms and data structures. It also supports dynamic memory allocation, which allows programmers to create and destroy sections of memory whenever required.