Top 10 Most Popular Programming Languages to Learn in 2024

One of the most important skills to learn in today's world is knowing how to write a computer program. Computers have made their way into almost every industry, whether it's the autopilot on an airplane or the digital speedometer on your bike. Almost every product and service today uses computers in some way. So what are the best programming languages to learn?

There is no doubt that software programming is a hot career right now. As per the survey, programming jobs are expected to rise 21 percent by the year 2028, more than four times the average for all jobs.

Everyone is trying to get into the app development scene as it offers some of the highest paying career paths like web development, data science, artificial intelligence, and more.

But before you start on a career path and build your first application, you need to first pick a programming language. And boy, there are a ton of programming languages, more than 700 in fact, for you to choose from.

Sounds like a crazy number, right?

But don't worry we are here to rescue you. We've compiled this list to make this choice as easy as possible for you by going over some popular programming languages and their common uses.

If your career advancement or career change plans require you to master a programming language, you may be wondering which language to learn. we recommend choosing something more modern, widely used and contains lots of packages or libraries.

In this article, we'll go over some of the widely used programming languages of 2024 and discuss the future of programming languages. So let's get started.

What are the most popular programming languages of 2024?

1. JavaScript

• Level: Beginner
• Popular Frameworks: Node.js, Angular, React.js, Vue, Meteor
• Platform: Web, Desktop, Frontend scripting

What this language is used for:

• Web development
• Game development
• Mobile apps
• Building web servers

JavaScript is a high-level programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web. It is used as a client-side programming language by 97.8% of all websites. JavaScript was originally used only for web browser development, but is now used to implement server-side web pages and non-web browser applications as well.

JavaScript was created in 1995 and was originally called LiveScript. However, Java was such a popular language at the time that it was advertised as the "younger brother" of Java. By evolving over time, JavaScript has become a completely independent language. Today, JavaScript is often confused with Java, and although there are some similarities between them, the two languages are very different.

Today, many organizations, often startups, use NodeJS, a JavaScript-based runtime environment. Node.js allows developers to use JavaScript for server-side scripting, i.e. running server-side scripts to generate dynamic web page content before the page is served to the user's web browser . This is how JS can now be used for both server-side and client-side scripting. If you're looking for that exciting tech job at your favorite startup, you should seriously consider learning JavaScript.

2. Python

• Level: Beginner
• Popular Frameworks: Django, Flask
• Platform: Web, Desktop

What this language is used for:

• Back end development
• App development
• Data science  

Python can be considered as the future of programming languages. According to the latest statistics, Python is the primary coding language of about 80% of developers. The presence of extensive libraries in Python facilitates the processes of artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning. Currently, Python is in vogue and can be considered the king of programming languages. So learning this programming language in 2024 promises you success and growth.

Python is used to develop 2D visualization and 3D animation packages such as Blender, Inkscape, and Autodesk. It has also been used to create popular video games including Civilization IV, Vegas Trike, and Toontown. Python is used for scientific and computing applications like FreeCAD and Abacus and popular websites like YouTube, Quora, Pinterest, and Instagram. Python developers earn an average annual salary of around $109,092.

3. Golang

• Level: Beginner to intermediate
• Popular Frameworks: Revel, Beego
• Platform: Cross-platform, mainly desktop

What this language is used for:

• System/network programming
• Audio/video editing
• Big Data

Go, or Golang, is a compiled programming language developed by the search giant Google. Created in 2009, Golang is an effort by the Google designers to eliminate all the flaws in the languages ​​used across the organization and keep all the best features intact.

Golang is fast and has a simple syntax that allows anyone to master the programming language. It also comes with cross-platform support, making it easy and efficient to use.

4. Kotlin

• Level: Beginner to intermediate
• Popular Frameworks: Ktor, Kweb, Javalin
• Platform: Web, Mobile, Desktop

What this language is used for:

• Android development
• Back-end web development
• Data science
• Multi-platform mobile development

Kotlin is not listed in the best new programming languages according to Statista, but its popularity for developing Android Apps is fantastic. It is also used for JVM and is 100% interoperable with Java. The history of Kotlin started back in 2011 as a new language for the JVM. On February 15, 2016, Kotlin v1.0 was released by JetBrains. Kotlin is a ‘modern, concise and safe programming language’ as the language creators say. Such companies as Udemy, Slack, Tinder, Alibaba Travel use Kotlin for development.

Kotlin developers earn an average of $136,000 per year, with earnings potential of up to $171,500.

5. Java

• Level: Intermediate
• Popular Frameworks: Spring, Hibernate, Strut
• Platform: Web, Mobile, Desktop

What this language is used for:

• E-commerce
• Finance
• App development

Java is one of the most powerful programming languages ​​today used on more than 3 billion devices. Java is one of the hottest technologies today. It is used in desktop applications, mobile applications, web development, artificial intelligence, cloud applications and many more. So learning and mastering this technology offers extremely high salaries, incredible growth opportunities and global recognition.

Java is a more complicated language to learn, but experienced developers with Java coding skills are in high demand. The average Java developer earns about $109,225 per year.

6. C#

• Level: Intermediate
• Popular Frameworks: .NET, Xamarin
• Platform: Cross-platform, including mobile and enterprise software applications

What this language is used for: 

• Game development
• Desktop/web/mobile apps
• VR

C# is Microsoft's approach to developing a programming language similar to object-oriented C as part of the .NET initiative. The general-purpose multi-paradigm programming language was published by Anders Hejlsberg in 2000 and has a syntax similar to C, C++, and Java.

C# is best suited for applications on Windows, Android and iOS, as it requires help from the integrated development environment product, Microsoft Visual C++. C# is used on the back-end of some popular websites like Bing, Dell, Visual Studio and MarketWatch. C# developers earn about $111,760 per year.

7. PHP

• Level: Beginner
• Popular Frameworks: CakePHP, Laravel, Symfony, Phalcon
• Platform: Cross-platform (desktop, mobile, web) Back-end web scripting

What this language is used for:

• Content Management Systems
• eCommerce platforms
• web applications

PHP is an open source programming language created in 1990. Many web developers find it essential to learn PHP, as the language is used to build more than 80% of websites on the internet, including notable sites like Facebook and Yahoo.

Today, PHP has become a general-purpose scripting language used worldwide, mainly for server-side web development. It's fast, simple, and platform-independent, with a large open source software community.

8. Ruby

• Level: Beginner
• Popular Frameworks: Ruby on Rails, Sinatra
• Platform: Cross-platform (desktop, mobile, web) Back-end web scripting

What this language is used for:

• Static site generation
• DevOps and automation
• Web scraping and crawling

Ruby is a popular and versatile programming language. You may have heard of Ruby on Rails, one of the most popular web development frameworks across all programming languages. While much of Ruby's popularity comes from this connection, Ruby has many uses including web scraping, static web page generation, command line tools, automation, DevOps, and data processing.

Ruby developers advertise that it is an easy language to write and also takes a relatively short time to learn. These attributes have led to a large community of Ruby developers and growing interest in the language among novice developers. Ruby developers earn about $121,000 per year.

9. Swift

• Level: Beginner
• Popular Frameworks: Alamofire, RxSwift, Snapkit
• Platform: Mobile (Apple iOS apps, specifically)

What this language is used for:

• iPhone and iPad app development
• Apple TV development

It is a powerful programming language developed by Apple Inc. It is used to create apps for iOS, watchOS, macOS, and many more. It can be seen as the future of performance and security applications. Therefore, it will soon reach the highest level of programming language.

As an easy-to-learn open-source programming language, Swift supports almost anything from the Objective-C programming language. Swift requires less coding skills than other programming languages, and it can be used with IBM Swift Sandbox and IBM Bluemix. Swift is used in popular iOS apps like WordPress, Mozilla Firefox, SoundCloud, and even the game Flappy Bird. iOS app developers earn an average annual salary of around $106,652.

10. C/C++

• Level: Intermediate to Advanced
• Popular Frameworks: MFC, .Net, Qt, KDE, GNOME
• Platform: Mobile, Desktop, Embedded

What this language is used for:

• Embedded systems
• Games development

Believe it or not, the C/C++ programming language became all the rage in the late 20th century. Why?

This is because C and C++ are both very low level programming languages that provide extremely fast performance which is why they were and are still used to develop operating systems, file systems, and other applications.