10 Best Programming Language to Learn in 2024

With time old programming languages become obsolete while new programming languages are launched, but they never gain traction. A common question amongst beginners (and coders alike) is the programming language they should invest learning in, that is in demand, stable outlook, and plenty of jobs.

❓ What Programming Language should I Learn?

Each programming language is designed for a specific purpose and has its relative merits and demerits. Also, the answer to the most useful programming language to learn is subjective and depends on your familiarity with coding. Irrespective, the following 3 parameters are essential to narrow a language a choice.

1.Job Opportunities in the chosen Language.
2.The popularity of the chosen programming language should be on an uptick.
3.Your Career / Life Goals.

Below, we have listed the 10 Most Useful Programming Languages you can learn right now. Sample Usage and Applications of each language are also listed to help you decide.
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1) Python

Created: Python language developed by Guido van Rossum. It was first released in 1991.

Python Tutorial

Pros

  • It is one of the best programming language to learn which supports multiple systems and platforms
  • Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs) driven.
  • Helps to improve Programmer’s Productivity
  • It is one of the best coding language to learn that allows you to scale even the most complex applications with ease
  • Extensive Support Libraries

Cons

  • Note ideal for Mobile Computing
  • Python’s database access layer is bit underdeveloped and primitive.

Usage/Application: Web and Internet Development, Scientific and Numeric applications, Desktop GUIs, Business applications. It is widely used in AI and Machine Learning space.

Salary: An average salary for any Python developer in United State is $114,383 per year.

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Reason Selected: Machine Learning, AI, and Data Science are emerging fields and Python is a staple programming language in such software programs.

Link: Learn Python Tutorial


2) Java

Created: James Gosling primarily designed Java at Sun Microsystems in the year 1996

Java

Pros

  • Object- Oriented language
  • Java offers APIs for different activities like Database connection, networking, XML parsing, utilities, etc.
  • Powerful open source Rapid Development tools
  • It is one of the best programming language to learn that has large number of open source libraries

Cons

  • Memory management in Java is quite expensive
  • The absence of templates can limit you to create high-quality data structures.

Usage/Application: Java mostly used for developing Android apps, web apps, and Big data.

Salary: An average salary for any Java developer in United State is $101,013 per year.

Learning difficulty: Learning Java is simple and easy.

Reason Selected: Java has wide and growing adoption. There is and will never be a shortage of jobs requiring Java Skills.

Link: Learn Java Tutorial


3) R

Created: R was designed by Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka at the University of Auckland. This project was conceived in 1992, but it’s initial version released in 1995 and a stable beta version in 2000.

R

Pros

  • R is one of the best programming languages to learn which is a comprehensive statistical analysis language that encourages you to develop new ideas
  • As a statistical language which is considered to be very easy to code
  • R is open-source software. Therefore, anyone can use and change it
  • R is good for GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows.
  • R is one of the most useful programming languages which is cross-platform that means it can seamlessly run on different operating systems.

Cons

  • In R, quality of some packages is not up to the mark
  • R does not have the best memory management. Therefore, it may consume all available memory.

Usage/Application: Data Science projects, Statistical computing, Machine learning

Salary: An average wage for any R developer ranges from approximately $90,042 to $136,616 per year

Learning Difficulty: Hard

Reason Selected: Data Sciences is a booming field and R is primarily used for Data Analysis.

Link: Learn R Programming


4) Javascript

Created: JavaScript was earlier called LiveScript when it first shipped in with Netscape Navigator 2.0 in September 1995. Later, it was renamed as a JavaScript.

Javascript Tutorial

Pros

  • Client-side JavaScript is very fast as it can be run quickly in the client-side browser
  • JavaScript is one of the best coding language to learn which is relatively simple to learn.
  • It is one of the best programming language to learn which can work smoothly with other languages and can be used in a huge variety of applications.
  • Grease monkey support to write snippets of JavaScript which can execute on specific web pages

Cons

  • JavaScript only allows single inheritance, so multiple inheritances are not possible
  • No copy or equal method is available in JavaScript.
  • JavaScript interpreted differently by different browsers.

Usage/ Applications: JavaScript usage include web/mobile app development, game development, and desktop app development.

Salary: An average wage for Javascript developer in the United States is around $110,981 per year

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Reason Selected: With NodeJS JavaScript now supports Server-Side Scripting as well. JavaScript is an indispensable language there will always be a need for JS skills.

Link: Learn Javascript Tutorial


5) Swift

Created: Swift was developed by Apple in July 2010 so that iOS developers do not need to work with Objective-C.

Pros

  • The Swift program codes are near to natural English, so it is easy to read
  • It is one of the most useful programming languages which has easy to add new features which makes swift high- level language
  • It is one of the best coding language to learn that does not have long code line.
  • Automatic Memory Management feature prevents the memory leaks.

Cons

  • With the continues updating of swift versions of Apple, Swift is somewhat unstable
  • As it is a new programming language the pool of Swift developers is very limited

Usage applications: Swift is specially designed language which works with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks to create all types of iOS apps.

Salary: An average salary for iOS developer in the United States is around $130,801 per year

Learning difficulty: Easy

Reason Selected: Apple! Should we say more?


6) C++

Created: C++ is a programming language that was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1983.

C++ Tutorial

Pros

  • It is a popular language, and thus, there are many compilers and libraries
  • Other programming languages like C, C#, and Java have very similar syntax to C++, make it easy to learn for everyone who knows C++.
  • It is one of the popular coding languages which has no garbage collector running in the background.

Cons

  • The syntax is complex, and the standard library is small, making this language very difficult to learn for the beginner programmer.
  • C++ program can’t support garbage collection or Dynamic Memory Allocation
  • The object orientation system in C++ is unnecessarily basic compared to other languages.

Usage applications: Widely used in Enterprise Cross-Applications Development, Web Applications

Salary: The average salary for “C# developer” ranges from $66,493 per year to $101,775 per year

Learning Difficulty: Hard

Reason Selected: Widely used in Enterprise software and the skill is in demand.

Link: Learn C# Tutorial


7) C#

Year Created: C# is a computer programming language. It’s the first version released in 2001.

C# Tutorial

Pros

  • C# uses almost similar syntax which follows by C so it easy to understand for those who know C language
  • It is one of the best coding language to learn that has Easy Integration with Windows
  • Fully integrated with the .NET library which provides access to a repository of functionality and support.
  • Safer than its namesakes (C/++) as pointer types are not permitted

Cons

  • It allows pointers in ‘unsafe’ blocks

Usage applications: Widely used in Enterprise Cross-Applications Development, Web Applications

Salary: The average salary for “C# developer” ranges from $66,493 per year to $101,775 per year

Learning Difficulty: Hard

Reason Selected: Widely used in Enterprise software and the skill is in demand.

Link: Learn C# Tutorial


8) PHP

Year Created: Rasmus Lerdorf created PHP in 1994

PHP Tutorial

Pros

  • Running with PHP is simple
  • Functional and Object-Oriented Programming
  • It is one of the top programming languages that has Large Open Source Software Community
  • It is one of the best coding languages which has reasonably good system of automation tools available for testing and deploying
  • It is an open source programming language

Cons

  • Error handling facility is poor as PHP lacks debugging tool
  • Developing a website with PHP Web Development is slower than other programming languages.

Usage applications: Web Applications, Content Management Systems, eCommerce Applications

Salary: The average salary for a PHP Developer in the US is $84,727 per year

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Reason Selected: Most popular scripting language. WordPress, Facebook all created using PHP. Never a shortage of PHP jobs.

Link: Learn PHP Tutorial


9) SQL

Created: SQL was developed at IBM by Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce. This language was made available publicly in 1979.

SQL Tutorial

Pros

  • Powerful query language
  • Optimised for large numbers of table rows
  • Fast for searching and querying of data
  • High availability and consistency of data
  • Fast for retrieving data from multiple tables

Cons

  • Difficult to convert data from Objects into database tables
  • It can only run on the single server, so increasing speed means upgrading hardware.
  • As SQL databases run on a single server so in case if the server stop working, then the database shouldn’t be accessed

Usage applications: Used in Any Database

Salary: The average salary earned by SQL Developer is $84,792 per year in the United States

Learning Difficulty: Easy

Reason Selected: You need to know database and SQL irrespective of what profile/language chose as a software developer.

Link: Learn SQL Tutorial


10) Go

Created: Go language which is also known as golang is developed at Google in 2009 by Robert Griesemer, Ken Thompson, and Rob Pike.

Go Programming Language Tutorial

Pros

  • Go is a really fast language as it is compiled to machine code
  • Its syntax is small compared to other languages, and it’s easy to learn.
  • It is one of the best programming languages to learn which offers standard library to provide handy built-in functions for working with primitive types
  • Go makes concurrent programming easy.

Cons

  • Poor Library Support
  • Interfaces Are Implicit
  • Fractured Dependency Management

Usage applications: Console utilities, GUI applications, and web applications

Salary: The average salary earned by GO Developer is $94,082 per year in the United States

Learning Difficulty: Difficult

Reason Selected: Upcoming language from Google.

Link: Learn Go Programming

FAQ

DA programming language is a language that is used to develop computer programs. The programs developed can range from operating systems; data based applications through to networking solutions.

Below are some of the Best Programming Language to Learn:

  • Python
  • Java
  • R
  • Javascript
  • Swift
  • C++
  • C#
  • PHP