What are the Most Popular Programming Languages in 2023?
Programming is a rapidly changing field so everyone who is thinking to learn a new programming language and deciding on which programming language to learn should track which ones are the most in demand today.
Thus, in this article, you will see the most up-to-date statistics on programming languages for 2023 in comparison with 2022. This way, you can make a data-driven decision or just keep updated.
Most popular programming languages: an overview from different sources
There is no one-way measurement, and it can be calculated in different ways. Moreover, many languages might be the most popular in a particular field but not among the general leaders (e. g. JavaScript is the most popular language for web development, Python is mostly used for machine learning, etc). Here are some of the ways to measure: job ads mentioning the language, results in search engines mentioning, counting posts on the popular developers’ communities (like Stackoverflow), surveys, and a lot of other methods.
Thus, finding out the most used programming languages is not a simple task. Thus, here is the table presenting the 2023 stats from four of the most relevant and trustworthy sources. These sources have a different nature of data. For instance, Stack Overflow’s data is based on a yearly survey with over 70,000 participants. GitHub uses data from code from its own platform. Data on PYPL index and TIOBE Index is calculated based on mentions of programming languages in search engines.
| # | PYPL index | Share | TIOBE Index | Share | Stack Overflow | Share | Github |
| 1 | Python | 27.27% | Python | 13.45% | Javascript | 65.36% | JavaScript |
| 2 | Java | 16.35% | C | 13.35% | HTML and CSS | 55.08% | Python |
| 3 | JavaScript | 9.52% | Java | 12.22% | SQL | 49.43% | Java |
| 4 | C# | 6.92% | C++ | 11.96% | Python | 48.07% | Typescript |
| 5 | C/C++ | 6.55% | C# | 7.43% | TypeScript (JavaScript) | 34.83% | C# |
JavaScript
So, the main function of JavaScript is to add interactivity to a web page. It can be pop-ups, buttons, changes on the website which are caused by users’ actions, tracking the analytics of a website, etc. However, JavaScript is usually not used alone, it is utilized with HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (cascading style sheets). HTML helps to build a row web page and CSS defines how it looks, and JS adds functionality and interactivity to a website. Just to note HTML and CSS are very easy to learn, much easier than Javascript.
JavaScript is primarily a front-end language which means the language is used to build how a user sees a webpage (client-side). However, it can also be used on the server-side through Node.js.
As for its frameworks, today React, Angular, and Vue are the most commonly used. JS web developer usually needs to know only one framework which he/she uses for the job.
The problem which JS developers might face is a need to constantly keep track of new things with this language. Like the web changes really quickly, JS is changing also quickly with new versions of it appearing; and the demand for its frameworks also shifts.
The average JavaScript developer salary in the USA is $110,000 per year.
Where to learn Javascript:
- Online course: HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers. Check out also our list of the best courses for web development to get starterted.
Other sources
- Websites: javascript.com, w3schools.com
- Book: Learning JavaScript: JavaScript Essentials for Modern Application Development 3rd Edition
Python
Python is the most popular programming language, PYPL and TIOBE indexes. There are actually two main reasons behind this:
- This general-purpose language has probably the widest range of where it can be used. It is used for data analysis and data science as well as for web development. One of the reasons is the huge variety of libraries for performing different tasks.
- Python is one of the easiest and most intuitive languages to learn.
Some of the most popular Python libraries are Pandas and NumPy which are used for data manipulation as part of data analysis or data science. Its libraries TensorFlow, PyTorch, and scikit-learn are common choices for data science and machine learning tasks. Meanwhile, knowing its framework Django allows building web applications.
Python is also often used in marketing as it allows to analyze data more effectively and automate routine tasks. For example, it can be easily used with CSV and Excel files and also be connected to Google Spreadsheets.
The average Python salary in the US is about $108,086.
If you are interested in learning it,
Where to learn Python:
- Online course: Introduction to Python. Check out also our best Python online courses list if you want a wider choice of options.
Other sources:
- Website: https://www.w3schools.com/python/
- Book: Python Cookbook: Recipes for Mastering Python 3
- Video tutorial
Java
Java takes second place according to PYPL index and third place, according to Github and TIOBE Index. This is an object-oriented language with “Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA)” capabilities. It is usually used for back-end development (server-side development) and is especially popular for applications with complex architecture and high-security requirements. Thus, it is often used in the online finance sector – for example for banking systems.
Among the most popular Java frameworks new Spring, Struts, and Hibernate.
This language is a more complex language to learn, but these skills are in demand today.
The average Java developer salary in the USA is $101, 300 per year.
Where to learn Java:
- Online course: Java Programming
Other sources
- Websites: w3schools.com
- Book: Core Java Volume I – Fundamentals
SQL
SQL Structured Query Language is the third of the most popular languages, according to Stack Overflow. It is used to manipulate databases. SQL allows you to build or update databases as well as is needed to just retrieve data (for example to build a report). This language is quite simple and fast to learn. While solely knowledge of SQL is not enough for most jobs, it is often needed as an additional skill for software developers and data scientists.
Where to learn SQL:
- Online course: Learn SQL Basics
- Websites: w3schools.com, sqlbolt.com
C#
C# or C Sharp as it is pronounced is also an object-oriented language that was designed by Microsoft on the foundations of C. It is an improved version of the C++ coding language and has a similar syntax to it.
The language is commonly used for app and game development. Also, it is utilized to build mobile apps, especially for cross-platform development.
There are different views on its feature with some predictions that it’s will not be so popular in the next years.
The average Java developer salary in the USA is $112,900 per year.
Where to learn C#
Online course: C# Fundamentals
Other sources:
Among the most used programming languages are Python because of its clear and intuitive syntax and JavaScript as it has a very flexible and forgiving syntax while also can be practiced even in a browser’s console. Also, SQL is very beginner-friendly but its skills won’t be really helpful for grasping the principles of programming.
The most common choice for data science is Python which has a number of useful libraries like Tensorflow. However, Java is also sometimes used for this data science tasks.
The most used language for website development is Javascript. However, to build a website you also need to know HTML and CSS which are really easy to learn.
