A programming language is a tool used to write instructions meant for a computer to understand and follow them. These instructions are written by coders, in the form of scripts, and the process of writing these instructions is called coding. Therefore, programming languages are a set of instructions important for coding. Think of it as a cooking recipe. The ingredients that go into the food are nothing but different programming languages, which lead to the final outcome, i.e., food.
There are primarily 2 forms of programming languages - low-level and high-level languages. Low-level languages are difficult for humans to understand and interpret, while high-level languages are easy for humans to understand. In the modern world of machine learning and artificial intelligence, all the languages used are of high level. It has to be that way!
There are over 700 programming languages, currently popular in India. However, there have been over thousands of programming languages in the past few years. Some have become obsolete, while some have been rebranded. The demand and popularity of programming languages fluctuate every year. And new programming languages with attractive features are released at a rapid scale.
Learning a new programming language is always a good investment of your time and effort. Regardless of you being a seasoned developer or someone who already knows several programming languages, you can always learn a niche programming language and master it.
But if you are just starting out as a programmer, then it’s better to learn some of the mainstream and established programming languages. Below we have listed some of the popular and best programming languages to learn in 2023 -
Guido van Rossum developed Python in the 1990s as his side project. Back then nobody thought it would be the most popular programming language one day. Python is the number one programming language, and currently it’s widely applicable for various purposes. It’s a simple, easy-to-use, and scalable language used in developing all types of web applications. Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest are all built on Python.
Today, Python is used in many areas of software development, with no signs of slowing down. It offers a massive library support and is ideal for creating prototypes. Therefore, Python is one of the best programming skills to learn in 2023.
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Usage/Application: Web and Internet Development, Scientific and Numeric applications, Desktop GUIs, and Business applications. It is widely used in AI(Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning space.
Salary: The average salary of a Python developer in India is around 4.16 LPA. A mid-level Python developer will generally earn more than this.
Click here to learn more about Python
Netscape assigned Brendan Eich during the first browser war to develop a new programming language for its browser. He developed the initial prototype in only ten days, and the rest is history.
JavaScript was often ridiculed earlier because of its poor language design. But, over the years, it has evolved into a multi-paradigm, high-level, dynamic programming language. The first significant breakthrough of JavaScript was in 2009 when Ryan Dahl released cross-platform JavaScript runtime Node.js and enabled JavaScript to run on the Server Side.
Today, JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world and runs on virtually everywhere: Browsers, Servers, Mobile Devices, Cloud, Containers, and Microcontrollers.
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Usage/ Applications: JavaScript usage include web/mobile app development, game development, and desktop app development.
Salary: The average salary of a JavaScript developer is 5.32 LPA.
Click here to learn about javascript
Java is one of the most disruptive programming languages. Back in the 90s, business applications were mainly developed using C++, which was quite complicated and platform dependent. James Gosling and his team in Sun started developing business applications by offering a much simpler, object-oriented, interpreted programming language, which also supports multi-threading programming.
Since then, Java has achieved platform independence due to Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which abstracted the low-level operating system from developers and gave the first “Write Once, Run anywhere” programming language. Also, JVM offers generation garbage collection, which manages the object life cycle.
Java is the number one programming language used by most enterprises. It’s considered to be one of the demanding programming languages to learn in 2023, for all types of developers.
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Usage/Application: Java is mostly used for developing Android apps and web apps, and also in Big data.
Salary: The average salary per year of a Java developer is INR 4.9 Lakhs
Click here to explore more about Java
The tech giant Microsoft decided to create an Object Oriented C like programming language as part of their .NET initiative, managed (run on a Virtual Machine like Java), back in the year 2000. The veteran language designer Anders Hejlsberg designed C# [pronounced as ‘See Sharp’] as part of Microsoft’s Common Language Initiative (CLI) platform. Initially, C# was criticized as an imitation of Java. But later, both languages diverged.
Today, C# is a multi-paradigm programming language widely used not only on the Windows platform but also on the iOS/Android and Linux platform. C# is considered the most demanding and best programming language to learn in 2023. C# is used by renowned companies like Alibaba Travels, Accenture, and Microsoft.
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Usage applications: Widely used in Enterprise Cross-Applications Development and Web Applications
Salary: On average, a C# developer earns around 34,000 per month. This is the median salary [50 percent of people working as C# developers earn this salary].
Click here to learn about C#
Dennis Ritchie, a Bell Labs engineer, developed a procedural, general-purpose programming language called C, which was compiled directly to a machine language, around 1969–1973. C programming offers low-level access to memory and gives full control over the underlying hardware.
Over the years, C has turned out to be one of the most used programming languages. Besides that, C is arguably the most disruptive and influential programming language in history. Almost all other languages have been derived from C.
C is often criticized for its accidental complexity and unsafe programming, but its platform-dependent features make it quite impressive. If you want to make the most use of your hardware, then C/C++ or Rust is your only option.
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Salary: The average salary for a C programmer in India is around 6.9 LPA.
To learn more about C program click here
Bjarne Stroustrup first created C++ as an extension of C, adding Object-Oriented features. Over time, C++ evolved into a multi-paradigm, general-purpose programming language. Similar to C, C++ offers low-level memory access and is directly compiled to machine instructions.
C++ also offers full control over hardware but does not provide language-level support for memory safety and concurrency safety. Also, C++ offers too many features and is one of the most complicated programming languages to master.
However, C++ continues to gain popularity owing to the rise of GPU, Containerization, and Cloud computing, as it can quickly adapt itself to take advantage of Hardware or Ecosystem changes.
Today, C++ is one of the most important and heavily used programming languages in the industry.
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Usage applications: C++ is widely used in Game Development, Advance Computations, and Graphics Compilers
Salary: The average salary of C++ developers in India is around 4.81 lakhs per year.
Click here to learn more about C++ program
Rasmus Lerdorf, a software engineer, initially created PHP as a set of Common Gateway Interface binaries written in C to create dynamic Web Applications. Later, more functionalities were added to the PHP product. Then it gradually evolved into a full-fledged programming language. At present, PHP is used as a general-purpose, dynamic programming language mainly to develop server-side Web applications.
3 Key Features:
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Usage applications: Web Applications, Content Management Systems, and eCommerce Applications
Salary: The average salary for a PHP developer in India is around 5.46 lakhs per year
Click here to know more about PHP
Also known as Golang, Go was created by Google. Widely used by the majority of start-ups in Silicon Valley, Go is slowly penetrating into the Indian market.
It’s mostly applied to companies that use distributed systems. Renowned Software Engineers Rob Pike (UTF-8) and Ken Thompson (UNIX OS) in Google created this easy-to-learn, highly scalable programming language in 2012.
Go has a runtime and Garbage collector (a few Megabytes). It has become a mainstream programming language in a short period of time, and is also one of the best skills to learn in 2023 for developers around the world.
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Usage applications: Console utilities, GUI applications, and web applications
Salary: The average salary earned by GO Developers in India is around 6 LPA.
A group of Apple engineers led by Chris Lattner developed the language Swift mainly to replace Objective-C in the Mac and iOS platforms. It is a multi-paradigm, general-purpose, compiled programming language, which also offers high developer productivity. Swift supports LLVM (developer by Chris Lattner) compiler toolchains such as C/C++ and Rust.
Swift has established itself as the primary programming language in iOS App development. As a compiled and powerful language, Swift is gaining increasing popularity in other domains as well.
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Salary: The average Swift Developer salary in India is around 5 LPA.
According to W3Schools: “SQL is a standard language for storing, manipulating and retrieving data in databases.” SQL is widely used in data science. Since massive chunks of data are stored in databases, one has to read them to understand and gain information. Therefore, one needs SQL, a special purpose database programming language.
It's a powerful, high-performance tool used for building relational database management systems.
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Salary: The salary of an SQL developer in India is around 4.5 LPA.
R is a commonly used programming language in data science and machine learning. It’s widely used for statistical computing. R is the second-best programming language after Python, in 2023. An open-source language based on the language S, R is also used for nonlinear modeling, visualization, calculation, and testing.
It’s considered to be a slightly difficult language for beginners to learn. However, there is a thriving online community of developers adept with using R. So, you won’t be finding it difficult to learn the R fundamentals.
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Salary: The salary of an R developer is close to 5 LPA.
Kotlin was originally developed in 2011, with its first version being released in 2016. Kotlin is used for web applications, desktop applications, android applications, and server-side applications. Companies like Coursera and Pinterest use Kotlin as their main programming language.
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Salary: The average salary of Kotlin developers is close to 4 LPA. This goes up to 9 LPA with experience.
Whether you want to be a Web Designer, Game Developer, Machine Learning Enthusiast, or any other related tech professionals – you have to master Programming Languages.
Almost every leading company such as Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, etc. requires developers to have an understanding of the basic programming concepts. Hence, if you’re looking forward to making your career in the IT industry, learning the above listed programming languages can be considered the first step.
You can choose and start learning a programming language as per your objectives – whether you want to build mobile apps? or If you’re working on the web development domain. Some of the most in-demand programming languages for jobs in 2023 are -
Features:
Employment: As of now, there are around 7.5 million JAVA developers across the world. The language works on different platforms such as Windows, Mac, Linux, etc. and it is majorly used for building enterprise-scale web applications and Android apps.
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Employment: C is used in the development of various major platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, etc. It is the most recommended programming language for beginners as the process of learning other languages becomes easier after working on this language.
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Employment: As Apple is not going anywhere and will lead the tech market in the future also, the demand for Swift seems to be rising.
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Employment: The scope of the language can be determined as there are around 5 million PHP developers across the world and various major websites like Facebook, Yahoo, Wikipedia, etc., are built on PHP.
The below mentioned programming skills are the highest paying in India. These languages are also the best for a career in web development.
Scala - Scala is a unique high-level language used in coding, big data and machine learning. The average salary for Scala is over 10 Lakhs per year.
Go - Go language is a very recent addition to the list of user-friendly languages. It’s simple and easy to use. In India, if you are a programmer working extensively with Go, you can earn over 11 lakhs per year.
Objective-C - Discovered in the 1980s, to support apps for Apple, Objective-C has remained one of the primary languages for Apple and its operating systems. In India, the average pay for this skill is around 5 lakhs per year.
Kotlin - Kotlin is growing in popularity, ever since it was declared a preferred language by Android app developers in 2019. The average pay for this skill is around 4.66 lakhs per year.
Ruby on Rails - Also called Rails, it’s a server-side scripting language. The average salary of a RubyonRails developer is 7.71 LPA.
C# - Pronounced as See Sharp, it’s a simple, structured and platform independent language. the average salary of a C# developer in India is around 34,000 per month.
Perl - Perl is a high-level language used for web development, system administration, and network programming. The average base salary for Perl developers is around 7 LPA.
Python - Python is an easy-to-use programming language. It’s the most commonly used language across the world. A mid-level Python developer in India can earn 9 LPA on average.
Java - A high-level language, Java has few implementation dependencies. The average salary of a java developer is around 4.55 LPA.
Swift - A powerful language, Swift has an easy syntax and is less complicated. The average salary of Swift developers yearly is 4.88 lakhs.
It depends on what you want to do as a beginner. If you are looking for an easier programming language, then go for Python. If you are looking for a foundation in programming skills, then C is the best to start with. And if you are looking for jobs, then Java is the one. Python, SQL, Ruby, Java and C - these are the preferred languages for beginners in web development.
Python Go, Scala, Swift, Kotlin, and C# are all future programming languages for developers. This means they can be used for high-end applications and databases. These languages are constantly evolving and shaping the way most developers work. These have a direct impact on the way we use technology and science.
Computer programmers work in various types of companies. They generally code or write computer software programmes. Also, they write, design, debug, troubleshoot, and maintain source codes related to various computer programs.
They write codes in languages that can be understood by the computer. That’s why computer programmers must know computer algorithms and applications. One of the key things of every program that they write is documentation. Computer programmers must document what they write. This is done in the form of charts, flowcharts, layouts, diagrams, etc.
The tasks of a computer programmer can be summarized as follows:
A bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology (IT), or a related field is the first step to get into the field. However, some employers may want students with postgraduate degrees or research experience.
An undergraduate student with relevant work experience can also migrate to computer programming. It also depends on your own effort and luck, and a lot on the way you plan.
It goes without saying that computer programmers must have the knowledge of Java/Java EE, C, C++, C#, .NET, Java Script, and other programming languages, along with strong written and verbal communication skills. They must stay up-to-date with new technologies and programming languages and work in a team.
Needless to say that computer programmers must be adept with technical skills. This means they must know the key programming languages like C++, HTML/CSS, Java, C#, SQL, and JavaScript. Other additional skills like Swift, Rust, and Ruby not only help in expanding a programmer’s skill set but also help in fetching a good pay.
Below we have mentioned the different technical skills that programmers must have, and how those impact the overall salary structure -
S.NO | Programming Languages | Salary |
1 | C++ | ₹507,355 |
2 | Java | ₹494,897 |
3 | HTML | ₹261,000 |
4 | C# | ₹400,000 |
5 | SQL | ₹500,000 |
C++ Programming Language, Java and SQL are the skills that pay above average salaries. The skills that pay less than the current market rate are C# and HTML.
In addition to these, soft skills are equally important for every programmer -
Most of these soft-skills are relevant for every other job in the world. For a programmer, it’s a challenging task to balance between their technical knowledge and the ability to plan and execute their tasks, each day.
The average Computer Programmer Salary in India is INR 480, 948 per year, according to payscale.com.
According to a report by payscale.com, an entry-level Computer Programmer with close to 1 year of experience can earn an average total compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of ₹405,470. With 1-4 years of experience, a programmer earns an average total compensation of ₹410,901.
A mid-career Computer Programmer with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of ₹573,251. With 10-19 years of experience, an experienced programmer earns an average total compensation of ₹550,000. And with over 20 years or more experience, programmers earn an average total compensation of ₹628,571.
In cities like Bangalore, Karnataka, a computer programmer can earn an average of 113.1% more than the national average. Also, places like Pune, Maharashtra (4.8% more) and Mumbai, Maharashtra (4.5% more) pay relatively more than most other cities for programming jobs. In Chennai, Tamil Nadu, programmers can earn an average of 136.5% more than the national average.
The lowest salaries for programmers are found in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (16.8% less) and Kolkata, West Bengal (0.2% less).
Pay difference based on the years of experience
Besides being a programmer in today's world, most tech enthusiasts opt for working as front-end and back-end developers. This is also called full-stack development, a combination of both front-end and back-end work for websites and applications. Back-end developers are focused on data, modeling, and the server-side of a website.
On the other hand, front-end developers help build what customers and users interact with and see, that is, the client-side of a website. A full stack developer does some or all of the above. Full-stack web development is one of the demanding professions of 2023, and it will continue to be in the top rank due to the increasing number of reliance on digital technologies and products.
Click the link to know more about front-end developers. Also, find out the skills required to become a front-end developer and the current salary of front-end developers in India and other countries.
Java, Python, HTML, Go, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and R are all equally important programming languages for a good career in 2023, if you are headed towards becoming a software developer.
There are many other additional front-end and back-end languages such as Reactjs, Nodejs, MongoDB, etc. that you must be aware of. It goes without saying that being a developer isn’t easy, and you should be ready to juggle multiple languages at the same time.
Based on a report by Burning Glass, the best programming languages for jobs in 2021 are - SQL, Java, Python, JavaScript, MicrosoftC#, C++, HTML5, and PERL [in order]. However, most employers want that a person skilled in Python must be aware of the other languages or at least have 2 or 3 more additional programming skills.
According to a report from Burning Glass, the top programming skills that fetch the highest salaries for developers or programmers around the world are - Python, JavaScript, Java, Swift, C, C++, Ruby, Go, Perl, and CSS [in order].
Also, Kotlin, Scala, and objective -C are other skills that fetch you a good salary as a programmer or developer in India.
Python, Java, JavaScript, and C, C# are undoubtedly the top 5 in the list. Others like C++, SQl, and R are also amongst the commonly used programming languages in India.
Since the mid 2000s, Python language has attracted a lot of popularity worldwide. It continues to be relevant and the most widely used language by developers. The reasons are -
Python has the least number of support issues compared to other languages.
It can be used anywhere, that is, Python supports different OSs, such as Ubuntu, Windows, Linux, etc.
Python is a simpler language. It’s easy to write and apply.
Yes, coding is a good career in 2023. As long as the field has opportunities and continues to bring well-paid jobs, it will remain one of the most demanding career options for a long time.
Python tops the list. But there are other languages like Go, Kotlin, SQL, and R that are also beneficial for getting a job in India.
The programmers who know how to work with Python, Kotlin, C++, C, C#, Scala, and SQL are some of the highest paid ones.
The best and the commonly used back-end programming languages of 2023 are Python, SQL, GO, Kotlin, C, HTML/CSS, Java and JavaScript.
The above listed programming languages are just to give you a hint on what works best in the field of software development. There will be changes in the near future! so it’s necessary that you keep yourself updated with trends. Try joining online communities where you can network with other developers and get to know what’s happening around the world.
If you want to know more about any of the above listed programming languages, you can check with our advisors at Crampete. They can brief you and help you enroll into one of the intensive classes on software development that we have on offer.
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