12/25/2016 TopProgrammingLanguagestoLookOutforin2017TheCatalystsbySachinGupta|ETtech

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The Catalysts
SachinGupta
CEO,HackerEarth

Top programming languages in

2017
Dec09,2016,02.26PMIST

As the tech ecosystem continues to grow and expand its reach,

we have seen a similar growth in various jobs, skills, and
programming languages. Since the burst of the dot-com bubble
in 1990s, weve seen an explosion of various programming
languages, and that growth shows no signs of slowing.

In fact, there are some reports that suggests that there are close
to 300 different programming languages one can learn. Its no
secret that coding skills are highly sought after and often very
well remunerated in the I.T industry. But its not possible for one
to learn every language, and some skills are more valuable than
others.

As the tech industry continues to develop and grow, its

important to know how to choose a programming language,
what is the best way to learn that language, and how your
choice might affect your prospects of getting the right job.

Through this article, we will try to figure out the programming

languages most preferred by programmers and languages that
are most in demand in the IT industry.
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C++, MATLAB, Java have always been a favorite for technical

institutes, and most of the graduates end up with great skills in
these languages. But what if the programming language they
know is not exactly the skills required by the industry? Or what if
it is on the wane?

We decided to analyze data from language indexes website and

platforms where most developers hone their programming
skills. We also delved into global portals like Indeed and
Glassdoor to identify programming languages that tech
companies are looking for.

TIOBE Index

The TIOBE programming community index is a measure of the

popularity of programming languages, created and maintained
by the TIOBE Company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
TIOBE stands for "The Importance of Being Earnest." TIOBE
ranks the languages based on the number of search engine
queries which contain the language as a keyword.

TIOBE indexes only the Turing-complete languages, hence it

does not consider SQL and HTML. Per the 2016 November index,
Java remains the most popular language, C and C++ still retain
their popularity on search indexes with ranks 2 and 3,
respectively. Surprisingly, Visual Basic and Python got higher
rankings as compared to Javascript, and Assembly language
made it to top 10 as well.

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GitHub

Ahead of its annual conference in September 2016, Github

shared its report here. It was amazing to see its scale with more
than 19.4 million active repositories and above 5.8 million active
users over last 12 months. It shared the list of languages
trending on the platform, it isnt much surprise to see Javascript
leading.

Languages to learn in 2017

While Java and Javascript will perhaps remain industry favorites

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with their web-based services, Googles GO has been up and

coming for a few years and will be a great language to learn.
Ruby is a favorite among the startups and it doesnt look like its
popularity will reduce anytime soon. Mozillas RUST and
Facebooks HACK (Over 90% Facebook code is being written in
it) are bound to join these lists but not in the first half of 2017.

The other programming language you can expect to grow in

2017 will be

R - With the worlds growing obsession with statistics and data

analysis, R is the language you need to add to your portfolio. It
would not be inaccurate to say that R could be the most sought
after language in 2017 if you go by the increasing number of jobs
related to R advertised on job portals.
MATLAB - Once a hardcore language for mathematicians and
scientists, MATLAB is back as the interest in analytics and
statistics is growing. More developers are going back to MATLAB
as the complexity of mathematical analysis is increasing.
SQL - As more and more people are getting onboard
technology; the database has been increasing exponentially. If
you are interested in managing the database, SQL is made for
you. Termed Special purpose language, SQL is made for a
special purpose, unlike general purpose language. Used almost
everywhere where database management is required. SQL is a
great skill to learn.
Arduino - IoT is here to stay! And embedded-based
programming will be a key player too. Arduino is not a new
language; it is a set of C and C++ functions. With more
embedded chips waiting to be coded, Arduino will be the new
skill to pick up in 2017.
Swift - When Apple, in response to developers complaints,
decided to come up with Swift to replace Objective-C, it was
bound to be a favorite among the developers. As of now, iOS
developers are spinning codes as quickly as others and as they
come out in the market use of swift would only expand. If the
mobile side appeals to you, then learning Swift should be a part
of your 2017 resolutions!

This does not mean that other languages will be added to the
list of dead languages or have no takes in 2017. It just means
that the wind could be blowing in another direction altogether.
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No harm in being prepared, right?

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETtech.com does not
necessarily subscribe to it. ETtech.com shall not be responsible for any damage
caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.

About Sachin Gupta

He is the CEO of HackerEarth

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