Top 10 Programming Languages for Job Seekers in 2014

By Darryl K. Taft

Java ranked No. 1 on the eWEEK list, having a strong showing in all areas of our research. On the TIOBE list of most popular programming languages, Java ranked second behind C. The language remains a powerhouse in the enterprise and continues to see growth from areas such as mobile and big data, where Java-based Hadoop is hot. It is used for a variety of things, including enterprise apps and infrastructure, as well as Web and mobile development.

JavaScript gets its share of criticism, but as the lingua franca of the Web it is in high demand. The language topped Stack Overflow’s 2013 job listing tags and maintained that top position in both New York and San Francisco. JavaScript ranked third on Dice.com’s list, trended well on Indeed.com and Simplyhired.com, and was ninth on the TIOBE index of most popular languages. JavaScript-related skills such as jQuery and Node.js also came up strong in the research. JavaScript is primarily used in the form of client-side JavaScript, implemented as part of a Web browser to provide enhanced user interfaces and dynamic Websites. However, its use in applications outside Web pages is also significant, as is its server-side presence.

C and C++, which is based on C, are among the most popular programming languages. C is used as a systems programming language as well as for applications—such as embedded systems applications. C++, developed as an enhancement of C, was initially known as “C with Classes” and quickly became one of the most popular languages among developers. It is used for developing systems software, application software, device drivers, embedded software, high-performance server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games. On the TIOBE index, C ranked No. 1 and C++ ranked No. 4. The combination of C and C++ ranked second on Dice.com and trended well in the research.

Microsoft’s C# was developed as a Java alternative and borrows from its predecessors: Java, C, C++ and Delphi—as it should, since Anders Hejlsberg, creator of C#, also created the Delphi programming environment while at Borland. Powered by Microsoft, C# has become very popular among developers and Microsoft shops. C# ranked third in terms of searches by companies in 2013 on the Stack Overflow Careers site and trended highly on the other sites. On the TIOBE index, C# was the fifth most popular language for 2013.

PHP is a widely used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. It was originally designed to produce dynamic Web pages. Zend Technologies, known as the PHP company, says its training courses are loaded, and it just announced long-term support for PHP. PHP was fourth in 2013 for both applicants’ and hiring companies’ searches on Stack Overflow, and sixth in terms of top listings. The language was sixth on the TIOBE index of most popular languages.

Python is a dynamic language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. Often compared to Tcl, Perl, Ruby, Scheme and Java, it enables developers to write code quickly. Python trended well across the career sites, and was top among applicant searches in New York City and third in San Francisco. On the TIOBE index list of most popular programming languages, Python ranked eighth.

Ruby is a dynamic, open-source language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write. Ruby is catching on in the enterprise as it is being offered in hosting and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) environments from companies such as Engine Yard and Salesforce.com’s Heroku, and it has been successfully used in enterprise applications by companies such as Coupa Software. Ruby trended among the top 10 languages among some of the career sites in 2013 and was the language applicants most sought positions for in San Francisco.

Objective-C is a reflective, object-oriented language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. It is used primarily on Apple’s Mac OS X and iOS, two environments based on the OpenStep standard, though not compliant with it. Objective-C is the primary language used for Apple’s Cocoa API, and was originally the main language on NeXT’s NeXTSTEP OS. With the enormous popularity of the Apple platform, Objective-C is a good language to know. iOS skills and Objective-C trended well in the eWEEK research, as developers choose it to build native apps for the Apple platform. It was sixth on Indeed.com and third on the TIOBE index list of the most popular programming languages.

HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content for the Web and a core technology of the Internet. It is the fifth revision of the HTML standard. According to VisionMobile, HTML5 continues to play an important role in mobile development, providing diverse development paths for those developers who want to extend their Web skills or Web assets onto mobile, as 37 percent of developers rely on HTML5 for developing mobile Websites and Web apps. HTML came up big in eWEEK’s research among employers.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language. While most often used to style Web pages and interfaces written in HTML and XHTML, the language can be applied to any kind of XML document. CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content from document presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors and fonts. CSS trended well among the top job listing tags for 2013 on Stack Overflow’s Careers site and was seventh on Dice.com among languages.