As a jobless full-stack software engineer, I always dream of learning PHP so i can easily buy a Lambo like the rest of PHP developers. However, the ultimate glitch of money making as a programmer is to teach others programming - what a pyramid scheme. Consider this my new way of passing my knowldge to you. Here is a list programming langauges that are more valuable and in demand in 2024.

1. JavaScript

Last year JavaScript was at the top of the coding languages for beginners, StackOverflow survey report and this year it will be also one of the most popular languages among developers. Android, iOS, or desktop JavaScript is almost everywhere and in best programming languages.

JavaScript is providing ultimate business solutions and that is the reason it is on the top of the list for a tech startup and for tech giant companies as well. If you are looking for a job quickly and easily then JavaScript opens a lot of opportunities for you in the job market.

JavaScript is now used for both the frontend and backend side. There are so many frameworks and libraries available for JavaScript that are quite popular among web developers such as AngularJs, React, Vue, Meteor, and a lot more.

Key Features of JavaScript:

• Interpreted, light-weighted, Object-oriented programming.
• Annual updates.
• Used for both server-side and client-side programming.
• Compatible with several programming languages
• 629K+ Repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on JavaScript: Google, Facebook, Dell, eBay, PayPal, Uber

JavaScript Code Example:

// JavaScript program to add two numbers
function add(a, b) {
    return a + b;
}
console.log(add(2, 3));  

5

2. Python

If we talk about easy-to-read, easy-to-learn, and coding languages for beginners then nothing can beat Python to come in the list of best programming language and that makes it an excellent choice for beginners. Python is now being introduced as the very first language in the majority of universities all over the globe.

Django, Flask, and Pyramid these all Python frameworks that are popular among developers. Python syntax is user-friendly in comparison to other languages and that increases developers’ productivity eventually. These all are the reason it is among one of the Top Programming languages. 

Key Features Of Python:

• Open source and object-oriented.
• Can be integrated with C and C++.
• Cross-browser support.
• Career in various fields such as Scripting, Web Development, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Big Data.
• 1M+ repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on Python: Google, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Paytm, Netflix, Quora.

Python Code Example:

# Python program to add two numbers
def add(a, b):
    return a + b

print(add(2, 3))

5

3. Java

Whether you are in the programming field or not you must have definitely heard about this popular programming language. The reason why Java is on the list of top programming languages is that there are so many large organizations still working on this language.

Java is widely used in Android app development and for building enterprise-scale web applications. Google has also created an excellent Java-based Android development framework – Android Studio.

There was a little bit decline in the popularity of Java but Spring Boot (the framework of Java) is gaining enormous popularity these days because of some of the recent refinement in the frameworks done recently. The recent update in this framework made it fantastic and probably, it will boost up in the future as well.

Key Features of Java

• Open source, Object-Oriented language.
• Cross-platform compatible.
• Stability, Strong memory management, and automatic garbage collection.
• High performance, top-notch security.
• Platform independent because of JVM feature.
• 1M+ repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on Java: HCL, Adobe, Intuit, Qualcomm, Flipkart, Amazon.

Java Code Example:

 // Java program to add two numbers
public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int a = 6, b = 3;
        System.out.println("Sum: " + (a + b)); 
    }
}
 

Output

Sum: 9

4. C and C++

Surely python and JavaScript are easy-to-learn and easy-to-use languages for most of the applications but when it comes to choosing the fastest language then C and C++ are the best choices and it is one of the top programming languages in the programming world.

A lot of low-level stuff such as operating systems, file systems, embedded systems, and kernel development can be built using C or C++. Almost all the modern and popular languages today inherit the properties of C and C++. C++ is still used in Microsoft Windows and Google projects. Apple also uses C++ language to develop its iOS operating system.

Key Features of C and C++

• C++ is an object-oriented programming language.
• Availability of ready-to-use STL libraries in C++.
• Used in Game development, GUI applications, Desktop applications, and real-time mathematical simulations.
• 7M+ repositories for C and 560K+ repositories for C++ on Github

Companies working on C and C++: eBay, Spotify, Adobe, Oracle, HP, Huawei, IBM, PhonePe

C Code Example:

 // C program to add two numbers
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    int a = 2, b = 5;
    printf("Sum: %d", a + b);  
}
 

Output

Sum: 7

C++ Code Example:

// C++ program to add two numbers
#include <iostream>
int main() {
    int a = 2, b = 3;
    std::cout << "Sum: " << a + b;  
    return 0;
}

Sum: 5

5. GoLang

GoLang was developed by Google and it is also a simple language and top programming Languages like Python so people who love to work on Python, they will definitely love this language as well. This language is pretty much already popular and scaling quite a lot at the backend services.

In past years this language didn’t get much popularity but in 2024 it will be rising quite a lot. Go language is more efficient than C++ and it provides features to write concurrent programs that are difficult in other programming languages. Revel, Beego, Martini, Gin all are popular frameworks of this language.

Key Features Of GoLang:

• Excellent support for multithreading.
• Fast and easy to learn syntax.
• Ideal for building SPAs (single-page applications).
• Can be used in a Distributed System, Big data, Cloud Computing, and other large-scale or complex applications.
• 729K+ repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on Golang: Uber, Google, Dailymotion, Fabric, Medium.

GoLang Code Example:

 // Go program to add two numbers
package main

import "fmt"

func add(a int, b int) int {
    return a + b
}

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Sum:", add(2, 3)) 
}
 

Output

Sum: 5

6. Swift

Swift programming language is developed by Apple used to develop iOS applications. We all know the popularity of iOS applications in the market so it’s not going anywhere in 2024 as well. It is best programming languages among iOS development languages.

Earlier we just had one single option, Swift, to enter iOS development but now we also have the option of Flutter and React native in the iOS market so you will see a little bit of a decline in the popularity of this language. Still, some of the things can only be done in Swift language (ex-payment stuff) so definitely, it’s worth learning Swift programming language. Cocoa and CloudKit these two are popular frameworks of Swift programming language.

Key Features of Swift:

• Used in iOS applications, MacOS development, TvOS development, and the whole Apple ecosystem.
• Scalable and easy to add new features.
• Easy-to-read syntax
• Automatic memory management prevents memory leaks.
• Fast in comparison of Objective-C and Python.
• 161K+ repositories on GitHub

Companies working on Swift: Apple, Amazon, Walmart, Uber, Slack.

Swift Code Example:

// Function to add two numbers directly from arguments
func add(_ num1: Int, _ num2: Int) -> Int {
  return num1 + num2
}

// Example usage (directly passing values)
let sum = add(10, 20)

print("The sum is: \(sum)")

The sum is: 30

7. Kotlin

Kotlin was one of the best programming languages in 2024 and the popularity will definitely increase in 2025 as well. When it comes to Android app development Kotlin has become a recent choice for developers.

It can be used with both frontend and backend frameworks. The language comes with features such as interoperability with Java as well as Android Studio support. You can do amazing things with fewer bugs and fewer lines of code using Kotlin.

Some of the popular frameworks are Ktor, Vertex, and Spring. You all know the popularity of Android in the market so Kotlin opens a lot of job opportunities to the developers. 

Key Features of Kotlin:

• Object-oriented and cross-platform programming language.
• Secure and flexible.
• Easy to debug.
• 79K+ repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on Kotlin: Airtel, Lenskart, Pinterest, Basecamp, Slack, Trello, Google, Netflix.

Kotlin Code Example:

// Kotlin program to add two numbers
fun add(a: Int, b: Int): Int {
    return a + b
}

fun main() {
    println("Sum: ${add(2, 3)}")  // Output: Sum: 5
}

8. C#

C# is the one of the top programming languages that is developed by Microsoft and it is still a quite popular programming language used in web development, game development (X-box, virtual reality, and Unity 3D games), and in Windows applications.

It has a comprehensive set of libraries that makes the execution and compilation of the program very fast. It is majorly used with the Dot Net framework(.NET). 

Key Features of C#:

• General purpose object-oriented programming language.
• Fully integrated with the .NET library.
• 19K+ repositories on GitHub.

Companies working on C#: Intellectsoft, Philips, Capgemini.

C# Code Example:

// C# program to add two numbers
using System;
class Program {
    static void Main() {
        int a = 2, b = 3;
        Console.WriteLine("Sum: " + (a + b)); 
    }
}

Output

Sum: 5

9. Rust

Rust is a systems programming language known for its performance and safety, particularly safe concurrency. It has a strong focus on memory safety without using garbage collection. Rust is gaining popularity among system developers and is considered a potential replacement for languages like C and C++.

Key Features of Rust:

• Memory safety guarantees without a garbage collector
• High performance for system-level programming
• Concurrency without data races
• Rich type system and ownership model
• 95K+ repositories on GitHub

Companies working on Rust: Mozilla, Dropbox, Yelp, Cloudflare, Prisma, npm

Rust Code Example:

fn main() {
    let a = 5;
    let b = 10;

    let sum = a + b;

    println!("The sum of {} and {} is {}", a, b, sum);
}

The sum of 5 and 10 is 15

10. PHP

A lot of people agree that PHP is losing its popularity day by day but we need to mention that it is still highly ranked in the market PHP is a cheap, free, and easy-to-use language. Approx. 70-80% of websites (Ex: Facebook, Wikipedia) are still running on PHP so there is a huge demand for PHP developers in the market.

A lot of developers or freelancers are using this language for web applications. Beginners can also choose this language because there is less competition in the market due to the popularity of Python and JavaScript languages.

Codeignitor, Laravel, CakePHP, and Symfony all are popular frameworks of PHP to make dynamic web applications. 

Key Features Of PHP:

• Functional and Object-Oriented Programming
• Platform independent.
• Easy to get started for making web pages.
• A lot of automation tools are available for testing and deployment.
• 540K+ repositories on Github

Companies working on PHP: Oracle, HCL, Motorola, Facebook.

PHP Code Example:

<?php
$number1 = 10;
$number2 = 20;
$sum = $number1 + $number2;
echo "The sum of $number1 and $number2 is: $sum";
?>

The sum of 10 and 20 is: 30

Top 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn in 2024 – Comparison Table

Note on Average Salary: The average salary figures provided are approximate and can vary based on factors such as location, level of experience, and specific industry demands. They serve as a general guideline to understand the earning potential associated with each programming language.