If you’re new to the field of software development, the toughest part of learning programming is deciding where to begin. There are hundreds of programming languages in widespread use, each with its complexities and idiosyncrasies.
The good news is that as you begin your journey as a software developer, you’ll start to discover which programming language will be most suitable for you, your interests, and your career goals.
In this article, we will go over what programming is, the benefits of being a programmer, career prospects for programmers, their salaries, and the best programming languages for many of the most common use cases, including web development, mobile development, game development, and more.
Table of contents
What is programming
Programming is the process of creating a set of instructions that tell a computer how to perform a task. Programming can be done using a variety of computer programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, and C++.
Benefits of learning programming
It Guarantees You a Job
We’re living in an era of technology, and technological growth is nowhere near stopping. As the use of technological devices is growing every year, there will always be a high demand for programmers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that within this decade, computer programming jobs would mostly be available to those outside the United States. This is because companies are considering employing people all around the world since they would pay them lower wages.
However, jobs such as software development, web development, computer system analysis, and others show a good career outlook for the next 10 years. Their estimated growth is from 9% and up to 21% for software development jobs.
You Get to Work From Home
Since the job only requires a computer with an internet connection, employees often have the opportunity to work remotely. That being said, that depends on the company’s policy, but many offer such an option. Moreover, if you work as a freelancer, your job will always be done remotely.
This advantage makes programming a highly sought-after job for people who want to balance their work and family life and feel like commuting wastes the precious time they could have spent differently. It also allows them to apply for jobs across the country without the need to relocate and worry about the distance of the office.
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You Can Create Anything You Want
Computer programming, like no other job, allows you to digitize your ideas. This idea can include an app you wanted to create and thought would go viral once you put it on the market. However, creating an app, it’s not an easy task, as it requires effort, time, and money.
While in other scenarios, you would pay a developer to put to life your plans and ideas, being a programmer yourself, you would spare your money and get to develop the app exactly how you want it. Especially since, let’s be honest, no one can implement your idea exactly how you want it to be.
High Income Potential
Money can be motivation in most jobs, and the case with programming is no different. Most jobs you can get with programming skills tend to have higher-than-average salaries.
While the salary of a programmer depends on the state and the type of job, the median salary of a computer programmer is $84,280, while a software developer’s median salary is $103,620.
You Learn To Combine Technical Skills and Creativity
Not all industries will allow you to use both your technical and creative skills as programming will. This is possible due to the nature of the job.
It focuses on identifying issues and resolving them. However, there won’t always be the same problems to solve; that’s why you’ll get to solve them while also finding new solutions each time. This makes programming a very challenging and exciting career.
Open Your Own Business
Becoming self-employed is the path that many programmers eventually choose. Knowing how to code allows you to look into opening a business of your own.
This could be an online shop, having your website designing company, building mobile applications, offering online coding courses and tutoring, and many more. The opportunities are endless. What makes it even better is that the demand for these kinds of businesses is also high.
The average salary of a programmer
The national average salary for a computer programmer is $64,958/ year. However, once you specialize in a certain area of coding, you have the potential to earn a higher wage.
Salary expectations differ based on your job location and years of experience. Some of the highest-paying areas for programmers include parts of Washington, California, and Virginia.
How long does it take to learn programming?
Most programmers agree that it takes three to six months to be comfortable with the basics of programming. But you can learn programming faster or slower, depending on your preferred pace.
Best programming languages to learn in 2023
Python
Python is one of the most popular programming languages today and is easy for beginners to learn because of its readability. It is a free, open-source programming language with extensive support modules and community development, easy integration with web services, user-friendly data structures, and GUI-based desktop applications. It is a popular programming language for machine learning and deep learning applications.
Python is used to develop 2D imaging and 3D animation packages like Blender, Inkscape, and Autodesk. It has also been used to create popular video games, including Civilization IV, Vegas Trike, and Toontown.
Python is used for scientific and computational applications like FreeCAD and Abacus and also by popular websites like YouTube, Quora, Pinterest, and Instagram. Python developers earn an average annual salary of about $72,500.
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Java
Java is the most popular programming language used today. Owned by Oracle Corporation, this general-purpose programming language with its object-oriented structure has become a standard for applications that can be used regardless of platform (e.g., Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, etc.) because of its Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA) capabilities. As a result, Java is recognized for its portability across platforms, from mainframe data centers to smartphones. Today there are more than 3 billion devices running applications built with Java.
Java is widely used in web and application development as well as big data. Java is also used on the backend of several popular websites, including Google, Amazon, Twitter, and YouTube. It is also extensively used in hundreds of applications. New Java frameworks like Spring, Struts and Hibernate are also very popular.
With millions of Java developers worldwide, there are hundreds of ways to learn Java. Also, Java programmers have an extensive online community and support each other to solve problems.
Java is a more complex language to learn, but experienced developers with Java coding skills are in high demand. The average Java developer earns around $79,000 each year.
Kotlin
Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language originally developed and unveiled as Project Kotlin by JetBrains in 2011. The first version was officially released in 2016. It is interoperable with Java and supports functional programming languages.
Kotlin is used extensively for Android apps, web applications, desktop applications, and server-side application development. Kotlin was built to be better than Java, and people who use this language are convinced.
Most of the Google applications are based on Kotlin. Some companies using Kotlin as their programming language include Coursera, Pinterest, and PostMates among many others. Kotlin developers earn an average of $136,000 a year, with the potential to earn up to $171,500.
Swift
A few years ago, Swift made the top 10 in the monthly TIOBE Index ranking of popular programming languages. Apple developed Swift in 2014 for Linux and Mac applications.
An open-source programming language that is easy to learn, Swift supports almost everything from the programming language Objective-C. Swift requires fewer coding skills compared with other programming languages, and it can be used with IBM Swift Sandbox and IBM Bluemix.
Swift is used in popular iOS apps like WordPress, Mozilla Firefox, SoundCloud, and even in the game Flappy Bird. Professionals who develop iOS applications take home average annual salaries of around $96,000.
C#
Developed by Microsoft, C# rose to fame in the 2000s for supporting the concepts of object-oriented programming. It is one of the most used programming languages for the .NET framework. Anders Hejlsberg, the creator of C#, says the language is more like C++ than Java.
It is best suited for applications on Windows, Android, and iOS, as it takes the help of the integrated development environment product Microsoft Visual C++. C# is used on the back end of several popular websites like Bing, Dell, Visual Studio, and MarketWatch. C# developers earn around $68,500 per year.
C and C++
C is probably the oldest and most popular programming language and is the root of other programming languages such as C#, Java, and JavaScript. C++ is an enhanced version of C. Many developers today skip learning C on its own, while others think learning C first provides a valuable foundation for C++ development. Both languages are widely used in computer science and programming.
C and C++ developers can make use of compilers for a wide variety of platforms, making applications developed in these languages largely transportable. Both C and C++ are considered high-performance languages.
As such, they are widely used in developing applications where performance is a critical issue, such as client/server applications, commercial products like Firefox and Adobe, and video games. C and C++ developers earn an average of $76,500 each year.
Go
Go was developed by Google in 2007 for APIs and web applications. Go has recently become one of the fastest-growing programming languages due to its simplicity, as well as its ability to handle multicore and networked systems and massive codebases.
Go, also known as Golang, was created to meet the needs of programmers working on large projects. It has gained popularity among many large IT companies thanks to its simple and modern structure and syntax familiarity.
Companies using Go as their programming language include Google, Uber, Twitch, and Dropbox, among many others. Go is also gaining in popularity among data scientists because of its agility and performance. (Ativan) Go developers can earn an average annual salary of $92,000 and up to $134,000.
PHP
PHP is an open-source programming language created in 1990. Many web developers will find it essential to learn PHP, as this language is used to build more than 80% of websites on the Internet, including those like Facebook and Yahoo. However, PHP was one of the popular programming languages in 2024.
Programmers mainly use PHP to write server-side scripts. But developers can also use this language to write command-line scripts, and programmers with high-level PHP coding skills can also use it to develop desktop applications.
PHP is considered a relatively easy language to learn for beginning developers. PHP professionals have several dedicated online communities, making it easy to get support and answers to questions.
On average, PHP programmers earn an average annual salary of about $81,500.
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Matlab
Matlab is a proprietary programming language owned by MathWorks and was originally released in the mid-1980s. It is built specifically for use by scientists and engineers.
Programmers use Matlab to build machine learning and deep learning applications. Matlab-based programs enable users to analyze data, create algorithms, process images, and verify the research.
Generally, Matlab is easier to learn than other programming languages on our list. MathWorks’ website has an extensive section dedicated to answering questions about Matlab.
The average Matlab developer takes home an average salary of $101,000 each year.
R
R is an open-source language that is essentially a different version of the S language. Much of the code that developers write for S runs on R without modification.
Applications built in R are used for processing statistics, including linear and nonlinear modeling, calculation, testing, visualization, and analysis. Applications coded using R can interface with several databases and process both structured and unstructured data.
R has a moderate learning curve and is not as easy for beginners to pick up as some other languages in this article. However, like other open-source programming languages, R boasts an active online community of developers, which is always a plus when learning new coding skills.
On average, R developers earn average annual salaries of about $91,000.
Ruby
If you want to start with a language that is known for being relatively simple to learn, consider Ruby. Developed in the 1990s, it was designed to have a more human-friendly syntax while still being flexible from the standpoint of its object-oriented architecture that supports procedural and functional programming notation.
A web-application framework that is implemented in Ruby is Ruby on Rails (“RoR”). Ruby developers tout it for being an easy language to write in and also for the relatively short learning time required.
These attributes have led to a large community of Ruby developers and a growing interest in the language among beginning developers. The average salary for a Ruby developer is nearly $90,000 per year.
Elm
One of the youngest languages on our list, what began as a Harvard student’s thesis, has now grown to become a point of passion for front-end developers around the world.
Elm compiles JavaScript, making it ideal for building fast-executing UIs with zero errors at runtime. Elm is a functional programming language allowing developers to create client-side interfaces without the declarative trappings of HTML and CSS.
Furthermore, the Elm web architecture was the intellectual inspiration for Redux, the state-management library taught here at Fullstack.
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It’s Code Time
When deciding which programming language to learn, it’s important not to get caught up in flashy trends and popularity contests. The best programming languages to learn in 2024 are likely the same ones that were best to learn in 2017 and 2018, and that will continue to be true for the next several years as well.
Although the field of computer programming changes rapidly, the languages that we’ve discussed above have a great deal of staying power. By learning one or more of these languages, you’ll be in an excellent position not only for this year but in the years to come.
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 to networking solutions.
Python
Java
R
C++
C#
PHP
Functional programming is a programming paradigm in which it is tried to bind each and everything in pure mathematical functions. It is a declarative type of programming style that focuses on what to solve rather than how to solve (aimed by the imperative style of programming).
JavaScript is useful for a lot of things. Traditionally it’s mostly used for apps that run in a web browser. But it is also used to program web servers too. You can even use JavaScript to program robots and desktop/mobile applications.
Simply put, Procedural Programming involves writing down a list of instructions to tell the computer what it should do step-by-step to finish the task at hand.
There are three types of media codes, symbolic codes, technical codes, and written codes.
Conclusion
If you want to start a career as a programmer, make a lateral move into another field, or advance up the ladder at your current job, learning one of these languages is an excellent place to begin your transition. And since courses range from Python for the beginner to Java for the experienced, you can find the right fit for you.
Reference:
- https://hackr.io/ – 14 Best Programming Languages to Learn in 2024
- https://www.simplilearn.com/ – Top 20 Best Programming Languages To Learn in 2024
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