Python is often considered the new kid on the block; however, it has actually been around since 1991. When you think about it, 33 years is hardly new. Nevertheless, with the rise of machine learning and large language models (LLMs), its popularity has exploded.
Before you feel tempted to jump on the bandwagon and start imagining that fat paycheck, remember that companies typically do not hire based solely on hype—unless they are tech startups looking to attract investor interest. In those cases, buzzwords like Python, LLM, and AI might make a difference.
That said, Python is indeed a strong contender. It is a language that is simple to read and write, widely used across various fields, and one of the most popular languages for data analysis and machine learning.
However, it’s important to consider other programming languages as well since the job market is incredibly multifaceted in terms of both programming languages and fields of application.
Do you remember the Year 2000 bug? I certainly do. Consulting firms alarmed everyone with the potential for airplane crashes and healthcare services coming to a halt. Millions were spent fixing COBOL programs, and the scarcity of COBOL developers led to skyrocketing costs per line of code—even prompting companies to hire retired COBOL developers.
If you think that nightmare is over, keep in mind that in 2038, some Linux programs may stop working unless they are fixed due to the way date and time are stored as
int32.That being said, while some languages may be niche, the scarcity of experts in those languages can be advantageous for job seekers; even if only a few companies are looking for developers in those areas, they may struggle to find qualified candidates.
Lastly, remember Ruby? It was quite popular from around 2008 to 2015 but has seen a decline in recent years. While this decline doesn’t necessarily mean Python will follow suit, it’s crucial to understand that hype should not be the determining factor when deciding on your career path.
The list of computer languages in this article isn’t exhaustive—there are plenty of languages used in niche markets, and even decades-old languages like VB or Delphi are still widely used. However, the author chose to narrow down the list to eight strong candidates that are in high demand in the job market.
Python
Python was created by Guido van Rossum in 1991. It is a high-level interpreted language that supports imperative, functional, and object-oriented programming (OOP), as well as anonymous functions using lambdas borrowed from LISP.
Python is dynamically typed, but it also offers type hinting for better type checking. These days, it’s incredibly popular due to the rise of Data Analysis and Machine Learning. However, let's not forget that even before this surge, Python was widely used for web development with frameworks like Django, Flask, and more recently, FastAPI. If we look further back, we can see that Python has served as a plugin language for major C programs, such as FreeCAD, Blender, and GIMP.
Python code closely resembles English, making it easy to read, write, and learn—one of the major reasons for its rapid adoption in recent years.
Python consistently ranks at the top of every computer language index listed at the end of this article, and it is highly popular among job search platforms.
JavaScript
JavaScript was created by Brendan Eich for Netscape Navigator, one of the first web browsers, and was first released in 1995. Although JavaScript (also known as JS) shares a similar name, syntax, and some libraries with Java, the two languages are distinct and differ greatly.
JavaScript is a high-level, multi-paradigm language, similar to other interpreted languages. It initially gained traction for creating small code snippets for web browsers and eventually became the dominant language of the internet, at least on the frontend. While JavaScript can be used in many fields, including backend development, it is most commonly associated with frontend execution.
Originally, JavaScript was a prototype-based language, relying on prototypes for inheritance and object creation rather than using traditional classes like other OOP languages. With the introduction of ES6, JavaScript has adopted more OOP features, such as class syntax, constructor functions, inheritance via extends, and more. These additions have made it more accessible to developers from classical OOP backgrounds and have led to its widespread use in an object-oriented manner today.
Although other languages can now run on the web browser using WebAssembly (WASM), JavaScript is still expected to remain the primary language for frontend development, and it has also become increasingly popular for building backend applications.
Like Python, JavaScript consistently ranks at the top of every computer language index and is highly popular among job search platforms.
Java
Java was first released in 1995 and was developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, although the Java project began in 1991.
Like Python, Java is a high-level language with multi-paradigm support, including imperative, functional, and object-oriented programming (OOP). However, it has significant differences from Python. Java is a class-based language, meaning everything must reside inside a class. This does not imply that everything is an object, nor does it make Java a purely OOP language. It is a statically typed language, which means types must be predefined, similar to C.
Java follows the "Write once, run anywhere" principle. The code is first compiled into bytecode, an intermediate format independent of CPU architecture. This bytecode is then interpreted or just-in-time compiled by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on each system, adapting to the underlying CPU. Unlike C, which requires separate binaries for different architectures, Java's bytecode can be executed on any platform with a compatible JVM.
Since its inception, Java has received criticism from developers for being too verbose, requiring a lot of code for simple tasks. However, new versions have been addressing this issue over time. Kotlin, a programming language designed to interoperate fully with Java, allows developers to write more concise code while maintaining compatibility.
Despite many developers moving away from Java due to its verbosity, it remains one of the most widely used languages for enterprise applications and is likely to continue being in high demand in many enterprise companies.
Java is the most used language to create native Android mobile apps.
PHP
PHP was first released in 1995 and was designed by Rasmus Lerdorf. PHP initially stood for "Personal Home Page," but it later became a recursive acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor."
PHP is an interpreted language that supports multiple paradigms, including object-oriented programming. However, much of the PHP code written before frameworks like Symfony and Laravel was imperative. Over time, PHP received considerable negative feedback from developers for various reasons, one being its inconsistent syntax and function naming, where function names and parameter orders often differ.
It's commonly said that many have tried to kill PHP, yet it remains resilient, with a significant portion of the internet still powered by it—mainly because WordPress, one of the most popular content management systems, is built using PHP.
Frameworks like Symfony, and especially Laravel, have changed the way developers perceive PHP. Laravel introduces modular code, a fluent design, and addresses many of the security issues associated with raw PHP.
Although PHP may not rank at the top of many programming language indexes these days, it is still in high demand among companies seeking developers, and it will likely remain so for a long time.
C/C++
C was created in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie, making it the oldest language on this list. C supports both imperative and structured programming but does not include object-oriented programming (OOP). C++, introduced in 1985, added OOP support but did not alter C itself; instead, a new language was created.
Unlike the previous languages, C is a compiled language, requiring recompilation to generate different binaries for each distinct CPU architecture and operating system.
C is often considered a difficult language to master, as it typically requires many lines of code for tasks that other languages can accomplish in a single line. Additionally, compiling entire programs can involve long wait times. However, C remains the fastest language in terms of execution speed, making it the preferred choice for developing operating systems and system tools due to its performance.
UNIX, Linux, and Windows were developed primarily in C, with some components in C++. The language is highly conservative in that many programs built decades ago with old compilers can still be compiled today without any changes.
The syntax of many popular languages, such as Java, JavaScript, and PHP, is derived from C syntax.
It's often said that C is not for everyone, as it requires a deep understanding of operating systems and memory management. However, C is a foundational language in the computing world, and there will continue to be a demand for C developers for years to come.
Rust
Rust was created in 2015 by Graydon Hoare and is further developed by the Rust team. As the newest language on this list, it stands at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to older languages like C.
Rust was specifically designed to address common issues in C and C++ programs, particularly memory safety problems such as buffer overflows, which can be exploited by hackers to gain unauthorized access or execute arbitrary code. Rust aims to deliver performance on par with C/C++ while ensuring strong memory safety guarantees, all without relying on a garbage collector.
Although Rust has unique syntax and language features, it shares some similarities with C, particularly in basic constructs and low-level operations, but C code cannot be directly migrated to Rust.
Like C and C++, Rust is a compiled language that supports multiple programming paradigms. However, it does not follow traditional object-oriented programming (OOP) with classes and inheritance. Instead, it uses traits, a feature inspired by Haskell's type classes, to offer similar functionality to OOP.
Although Rust is still a relatively new language and not highly ranked in programming popularity indexes, it faces competition from languages like Go. However, due to security vulnerabilities in C, many organizations, including the EU, are advocating for transitioning programs written in C to safer languages, with Rust being a primary choice.
C#
C# was first released in 2000 and was designed by Anders Hejlsberg, with development led by Mads Torgersen.
Initially, C# was built on top of the closed-source .NET Framework, which was primarily tied to the Windows operating system. To enable cross-platform deployment, the Mono framework, an open-source implementation of .NET, was created. However, there were some differences in code and compatibility between the .NET Framework and Mono. With the advent of .NET Core (now unified as .NET), C# gained native cross-platform support, reducing dependence on Mono in most scenarios. Nevertheless, Mono remains relevant for certain use cases, such as Xamarin for mobile app development.
C# remains one of the most widely used languages in enterprise environments, particularly on Windows. While it may not be the most popular language among developers, its strong demand and continued relevance suggest it will remain an important language for years to come.
Go
Go, also known as Golang, was introduced in 2009 and was designed by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson at Google.
Go is a compiled, statically typed language that supports multiple programming paradigms, including imperative, functional, and object-oriented programming (OOP). Similar to Rust, Go was developed to address some of the limitations of C and C++, though Rust and Go are not intended to serve the same purposes. Go features memory safety, garbage collection, and concurrency based on Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP).
Its syntax resembles C, and the language was built with multiprocessing and high-performance networking in mind. As a result, Go has become popular in cloud services and distributed systems.
While Go is a relatively new language, its association with Google has contributed to its growing popularity within the developer community.
Comparison
| Language | Released | Execution Type | Type System | Common Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Python | 1991 | Interpreted | Dynamically | Web Development Data Science Automation Scripting |
| JavaScript | 1995 | Interpreted | Dynamically | Web Development Server-Side Mobile Apps |
| Java | 1995 | Compiled | Statically | Enterprise Applications Android Apps Web Servers |
| PHP | 1995 | Interpreted | Dynamically | Web Development Server-Side Scripting |
| C | 1972 | Compiled | Statically | Systems Programming Embedded Systems OS Development |
| C++ | 1985 | Compiled | Statically | Game Development Systems Programming High-Performance Applications |
| Rust | 2010 | Compiled | Statically | Systems Programming WebAssembly Performance-Critical Apps |
| C# | 2000 | Compiled | Statically | Enterprise Applications Web Development Game Development (Unity) |
| Go | 2009 | Compiled | Statically | Web Development Cloud Services Distributed Systems |
Language Ranking Indexes
When it comes to choosing a language to learn, developers often refer to language ranking indexes. However, it's important to keep in mind that these rankings are based on a mix of multiple factors, and sometimes they may not accurately reflect the demand in the job market for new hires. Additionally, different ranking systems can yield significantly different results, depending on how the data is collected.
Here are some popular language ranking indexes:
- TIOBE Index: Provides detailed data on language rankings, including historical data and comparisons of language popularity. It calculates its rankings using data from popular websites such as Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, and Bing.
- RedMonk: Provides quarterly language ratings, with data collected from GitHub and Stack Overflow statistics.
- PyPl: Provides monthly rankings, which are based on the frequency of Google searches for programming languages.
Conclusion
When it comes to choosing the best language to learn in 2025, there is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Python is currently one of the most hyped languages, and it has strong demand. However, if every developer jumps on the bandwagon, the market could become oversaturated with too many developers, potentially leading to increased competition.
JavaScript follows closely behind Python in popularity outside the enterprise world, and remains the dominant language for frontend development. With powerful frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue, it is also widely used in backend development.
For those interested in the enterprise job market, Java and C# are solid choices, as they are widely used in large-scale enterprise applications.
If your interests lie in hardware, speed of execution, operating systems, or desktop applications, and you want to understand systems at a deeper level, C/C++, Rust, and Go are some of the best languages to consider.
Despite the global trend of attempting to replace PHP with languages like Node.js and Python, PHP still powers a significant portion of the internet’s backend. It is likely to remain relevant for the foreseeable future, much like C/C++.
Ultimately, most companies do not hire based on trends; they seek developers who can integrate with their existing teams and maintain the current codebase. The language that aligns with the team’s needs and projects is often the best choice.
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