For some people, the best programming language is the one that earns them the most money. For some it is the one that can be used to build the coolest stuff. For some, it is the language that is in high demand and can get them a job quickly. So, you need to ask yourself a question. What do you mean by “the best”? What is your goal?
Is your goal to get paid more? Or build cool stuff? Or be in high demand? Or anything else? For example, you can see COBOL is a high-paid language but it may not be in high demand. On the other hand, you can say, WordPress and PHP developers are in high demand but that may not fetch you a great paying job. So “the best” is all relative.
In this article, I will discuss various aspects of various programming languages and their demand.
Most Popular Language
If you look at the Most Popular Programming Languages over the past decade or so, you will find that C, C++ and Java are the top 3 languages. Based on the research and statistics by Udemy, TIOBE, and langpop, the following list may be used to list the top 10 most-used programming languages.
- Java
- C
- C++
- C#
- Objective-C
- PHP
- Python
- Ruby
- SQL
- JavaScript
But the purpose of this article is not to talk about the Most Popular Programming Language but to determine the best programming language for you.
Most Demanding Language in 2013
Let’s have a look at the most demanding languages of 2013. ComputerWorld published a report on June 11, 2013 of the top 10 programming languages that are in demand by employers in major US cities.
| Language | Job Count | City |
| SQL | 98,454 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago |
| Java | 66,485 | New York, DC, San Jose, San Francisco, Boston |
| HTML | 45,456 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, LA |
| JavaScript | 43,189 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, Silicon Valley |
| C++ | 32,018 | Santa Clara, Seattle, New York, San Francisco |
| C# | 31,936 | Seattle, New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta |
| XML | 31,431 | DC, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta |
| C | 24,801 | Santa Clara, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, San Diego |
| Perl | 20,579 | San Jose, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston |
| Python | 19,627 | Mountain View, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston |
Structured Query Language (SQL) may not be a fully functional programming language but has been in demand more than any other language in year 2013. And it is very obvious due to data processing and demand. The demand of a language changes from year to year and from city to city. As you can see from the preceding table, C# language is in most demand in Seattle. The reason is obvious. Microsoft is the biggest employer in Seattle area. Similarly, if you look at the last item in the preceding table, Python is the most demanded language in Mountain View. So it all depends on the location, the project type and the interest. If your interest is in working with a mobile startup, you may not find C or C# attractive compare to Objective-C or if your goal is to make more money, C# may be the way to go.
Best Paid Language
Programmers’ salaries usually depend on several factors such as the location, experience, skills, and company. For example, Juniper Networks in the same city pays a lot more than Microsoft for same experience and skillset.
Let’s refer to a list ComputerWorld published on June 11, 2013 on the top 10 most paid programming languages in major US cities.
| Language | Average Salary | City |
| Java | $95,000 | New York, DC, San Jose, an Francisco, Boston |
| C++ | $94,000 | Santa Clara, Seattle, New York, San Francisco |
| C | $93,000 | Santa Clara, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, San Diego |
| Perl | $93,000 | San Jose, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston |
| XML | $92,000 | DC, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta |
| C# | $91,000 | Seattle, New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta |
| SQL | $90,000 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago |
| JavaScript | $88,000 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, Silicon Valley |
| Python | $83,000 | Mountain View, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston |
| HTML | $81,000 | New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, LA |
As you can see from the preceding table, Java is the best-paid language. But it does not mean that you can’t make more money in C#. There may be some companies that may pay more to a C# developer than a Java developer. For example, in the Philadelphia area, there is high demand of senior .NET developers, they can earn pretty much more than an average salary. It also depends on how badly a company needs a skilled developer.
Most Exciting Language
So you like excitement? Excitement is all about building cool and cutting-edge solutions. Today, Mobile, Big Data, and Cloud are in very much demand.
Mobile development was the most demanding skillset in 2013. As you can see from the stats published by StatCounter, Android leads all the mobile platforms followed by iOS. Obviously, Java and Objective-C will be the most demanding languages for the mobile development.
Most Versatile Language
Out of the preceding listed programming languages C, C++, Java and C#, probably the most versatile among them all are C++ and C#. Using C#, you can develop Windows client applications, Web applications, components, Windows Store apps, Windows Phone app, Enterprise, and even iOS and Android mobile applications. The details of this topic I will cover in my next article titled, What C# can do for you. Stay tuned!
Conclusion
The best programming language is all relative to you. It depends on what your goal is. In this article, we talked about various aspects of programming languages. Clearly, Mobile, Big Data, Wearable and Cloud are the leading trends for 2014. It will be interesting to see where 2014 goes from here. I hope you liked this article. I definitely would love to hear what your take is on this article as well as some programming languages you may have used.
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