The Most Used Programming Languages in 2020: Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, C++, PHP Programming Languages Rankings: LinkedIn Jobs, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Google Trends, PYPL, IEEE, TIOBE, Jobs.bg The Skills of the Software Engineers: Coding, Algorithms, Development Concepts, Technologies Programming Languages: Trends for 2021 CodeMonsters 2020 conference Created by Svetlin Nakov

1. https://softuni.org
The Most Wanted Programming Languages for 2021:
JavaScript, Java, Python, C#, C++, PHP and Others
Programming Languages: Trends for 2021
Svetlin Nakov, PhD
Co-Founder, Innovation and
Inspiration Manager at SoftUni
https://nakov.com

2.  The Most Used Programming Languages in 2020:
 Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, C++, PHP
 Programming Languages Rankings:
 LinkedIn Jobs, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Google
Trends, PYPL, IEEE, TIOBE, Jobs.bg
 The Skills of the Software Engineers: Coding,
Algorithms, Development Concepts, Technologies
 Programming Languages: Trends for 2021
Table of Contents

3. The Most Used Programming
Languages in 2020

4.  Python
 Best for: data science, machine learning, AI, Web development
 Comes with: data science toolkits, Jupiter, NumPy, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Django /
Flask, MySQL / PostgreSQL, HTML + CSS + JS front-end
 Java
 Best for: enterprise applications, back-end apps, Web apps, Android apps
 Comes with: Spring Framework, Spring MVC, Java EE, Hibernate, MySQL
/PostgreSQL + front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JS front-end, React)
 JavaScript
 Best for: modern front-end apps, cross-platform UI, back-end apps
 Comes with: HTML + CSS + front-end technologies (HTML5, React, Angular, VueJS),
JS back-end technologies (Node.js, Express, MongoDB), TypeScript
Mainstream Languages and Frameworks
4

5.  C# / .NET
 Best for: back-end apps, Web apps, enterprise applications, desktop apps
 Comes with: .NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, Entity Framework, SQL Server, front-end
technologies (HTML, CSS, JS front-end, React)
 C++
 Best for: embedded / IoT development, graphics and game development, finance,
system programming, high-performance back-end computing
 Comes with: C++, STL, Boost, CMake, Qt, POCO C++, Unreal Engine
 PHP
 Best for: server-side Web apps, dynamic Web sites, e-commerce projects
 Comes with: MySQL, PHP frameworks (Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter), front-end
technologies (HTML, CSS, JS front-end, React), WordPress
Mainstream Languages and Frameworks (2)
5

6.  TypeScript – strongly-typed JavaScript, less prone to errors, good
for big and complex projects, used in Angular and Next.js
 Swift – modern general-purpose language, mostly used on the
Apple's ecosystem (iOS, macOS, alternative to Objective C)
 Kotlin – simplified syntax for the Java and Android ecosystem
 Scala – rich functional programming for the Java ecosystem
 Ruby – dynamic language, build for simplicity and productivity
(mostly for back-end Web apps, alternative to PHP and Python)
 Visual Basic – scripting for Windows (slowly disappearing)
Less Popular Languages and Frameworks
6

7.  Go – modern highly-efficient server-side development language
(alternative to C++)
 Rust – multi-paradigm back-end language designed for
performance and safety (alternative to C++)
 C – language for system programming and low-level
development
 R – specialized language for statistics and data analytics
 Dart – front-end language for building UI with Flutter
 Perl – old-fashioned powerful back-end language
Specialized Languages
7

8. 8
 Many technologies are related to programming, but are not
programming languages
 SQL
 Database query and manipulation language
 HTML and CSS
 Visualize Web content (text + images + links)
 XML and JSON
 Store and transport data
Non-Programming Languages

9. The Most Popular Languages in 2020
Programming Languages Rankings

10. 10
 LinkedIn Jobs (Dec 2020):
 Java ⟶ 356 482 results
 Python ⟶ 316 388 results
 JavaScript ⟶ 312 553 results
 C++ ⟶ 171 671 results
 C# ⟶ 131 249 results
 PHP ⟶ 93 587 results
 Note: open jobs != total jobs
LinkedIn Jobs Rankings by Language

11. 11
 Top languages in GitHub
(Octoverse 2020 report):
 #1: JavaScript
 #2: Python
 #3: Java
 #4: TypeScript
 #5: C#
 #6: PHP
 Note: only public open-source projects from GitHub are included!
GitHub Ranking by Language

12. 12
 PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language (how often language
tutorials are searched on Google)
 PYPL ranking (Dec 2020)
 #1: Python
 #2: Java
 #3: JavaScript
 #4: C#
 #5: C++
 #6: PHP
PYPL: Programming Languages by Google Trends

13. 13
 Stack overflow – total number of questions by tag:
 E.g. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/java
 Stack Overflow all time questions asked
 JavaScript ⟶ 2 138 968 questions
 Java ⟶ 1 740 471 questions
 Python ⟶ 1 609 659 questions
 C# ⟶ 1 453 717 questions
 PHP ⟶ 1 384 176 questions
 C++ ⟶ 705 273 questions
Stack Overflow: Questions Tagged by Lang

14. 14
 Stack overflow developer survey 2020:
 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020
 Stack Overflow dev survey 2020
 #1: JavaScript
 #2: Python
 #3: Java
 #4: C#
 #5: PHP
 #6: TypeScript
Stack Overflow Developer Survey

15. 15
 IEEE top languages for 2020:
 Combine 11 metrics: Google, GitHub,
Stack Overflow, Twitter, Reddit, others
 IEEE top langs for science and education:
 #1: Python
 #2: Java
 #3: C
 #4: C++
 #5: JavaScript
 #6: R
IEEE Programming Language Rankings

16. 16
 TIOBE Index: programming languages on the most popular search
engines (not only Google)
 TIOBE Index (Dec 2020):
 #1: C
 #2: Java
 #3: Python
 #4: C++
 #5: C#
 #6: Visual Basic
TIOBE: Languages on Search Engines

17. 17
 Jobs.bg ranking by programming
languages for Bulgaria (Dec 2020):
 Java ⟶ 1049
 JavaScript ⟶ 635
 Python ⟶ 432
 C# ⟶ 299
 PHP ⟶ 283
 C++ ⟶ 169
Ranking for Bulgaria: Jobs.bg, LinkedIn BG

18. 18
 Why the rankings for the programming language
popularity are not much reliable?
 Based on "by keyword search"
 "JavaScript" can match also "Java" and "PHP" jobs
 Based on what people search, not what they use
 Research methodology is quite important
 Think what do you want to measure!
Why Rankings Are Not Reliable?

19. The Skills of the
Software Engineers

20.  4 main groups of skills:
 Coding skills – 20%
 Algorithmic thinking – 30%
 Fundamental software
development concepts – 25%
 Programming languages and
software technologies – 25%
Skills of the Software Engineers
20
Language-
independent skill
Language-
independent skill
Language-
independent skill
Language-
dependent!

21. Programming Languages:
Trends for 2021

22. 22
 Top 5 mainstream programming languages for 2021:
 Python
 JavaScript
 Java
 C#
 C++
 The others are less significant
What to Expect in 2021?
 Non-mainstream languages for 2021:
 Rust, Go (high-performance)
 Dart (Flutter framework)
 R (for statistics)

23. SoftUni – https://softuni.org 2