This time of year, IEEE Spectrum publishes its interactive ranking of the most popular programming languages. Today it's the turn of the 2021 edition, and its updated content only confirms what we were already imagining: besides keeping its Top 5 intact, Python remains at number 1 thanks to its ease of learning, free online resources, and the huge number of available libraries.

The Most Popular Programming Languages (2021)
Most popular programming languages

The first step to learn to program is always the hardest, but the path that follows is longer and more complex than many believe. The introduction of new technologies and the need to stay updated make code development a moving target. However… some preferences seem to be carved in stone.

A proof of this comes from the ranking of the most popular programming languages prepared by IEEE Spectrum. In its 2020 edition, the Top 5 was dominated by Python, Java, C, C++, and JavaScript. And when we explore its update for 2021… let's say the site only has one recommendation for us:

The Most Popular Programming Languages (2021)
In general... we are not surprised

That's right: Beyond slight differences in scores, the five most popular languages remain the same. The suggestion to learn Python is based on its flexibility: It's not necessary to become a full-time expert in the language, but rather to master it enough to take advantage of its universe of libraries and bring our personal projects to a good port.

That said, there are natural limits in Python, and that's when specialized technologies like R (position 7), MatLab (position 12), and SQL (position 15) come into play. Obviously, the discussion about what is a programming language remains current with special mentions for HTML (position 9) and Arduino (position 11). IEEE Spectrum's strategy is pragmatic. For example, HTML is not considered "general purpose," but ignoring its popularity based on that single detail would be a mistake.

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One of the most important jumps was made by C#, which went from position 25 in 2020 to occupying the sixth position in this 2021. IEEE Spectrum associates it with the release of version 9 of the language in November 2020, the imminent arrival of Windows 11, and a marked interest in distributed systems.

To finish, remember that this interactive ranking also allows you to filter by conditions such as Trending (fast growth), Jobs (languages requested by employers), and Open (popular in open source cores), but Python dominates all categories, and the feeling is that it will do so for a long time.

Official announcement: Click here

Access the ranking: Click here