Let’s face it, the job market for software development isn’t great at the moment.
Not only have many companies stopped hiring, but the market is flooded with talented software developers that companies have had to let go.
If you want to get a job in 2023 then you need to make sure you are at least learning a language that is in demand.
So in this article, I will cover the 5 top programming languages you need to know to get a job this year.
5. Solidity
The buzz around web3 and NFTs has died down compared to last year, but the fact remains that there is still a demand for solidity developers.
Compared to other languages that we are going to look at today, Solidity is the newest language on the list. It was created in 2014 by Gavin Wood, who is the CTO of Ethereum.
It is based on languages such as C++ and JavaScript and was created for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
Being a fairly new language means fewer developers know it; therefore, given the rules of supply and demand, Solidity developers can command a very high salary.
If you look on job sites such as Indeed, you will see salaries in the $150K - 300K range.
If you are interested in web3, then it is definitely worth learning Solidity. The major downside of Solidity, however, is that it isn’t currently used outside web3 development.
It also has quite a steep learning curve if you don’t already know another language such as C++.
4. Java
Unlike Solidity, Java is a lot older and has been around since 1995.
Thanks to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Java can run pretty much everywhere.
Java is the main language used in Android development, but it isn’t just limited to mobile devices. It can be used for writing web applications, APIs and even desktop apps.
If you look for jobs in Java you will see large companies such as Amex, Mastercard, Boeing and Nike all looking for Java Developers at the moment. It is also used at companies such as PayPal, LinkedIn, and Uber and even for some things at Microsoft which is surprising.
Java isn’t as hard to learn as Solidity, but it is an object-orientated programming language so is not as simple as Python, for example.
Personally, I am not a big fan of Java, I find it slow and not as intuitive, but a lot of people like it.
There are so many companies using Java that it isn’t too difficult to find a job. However, a lot of those companies mentioned were included in the mass lay-offs last year, which means there is going to be an influx of Java Developers looking for a job.
With more developers on the market, it also means a slightly lower salary, but jobs are still offering between $85K and $150K, so it is not exactly small.
3. C#
Thanks to .NET Core, C# can be used on more than just Windows. It also works on Mac and more importantly on Linux, which makes it perfect for running services in Docker containers.
C# is a relatively new language compared to Java, as it was only created in 2000 however with Microsoft backing it, it has quickly grown to be one of the main programming languages used by companies.
C# is the language of choice in the corporate world. You will find C# used in banking, fintech, government as well startups. Companies choose .NET as there is always a big pool of developers to pick from.
C#, like Java, is also an Object-Oriented Language, but it is a good choice if you want to build a stable career in software development.
Salaries for C# jobs are mostly similar to those for Java developers, however as it is also the favourite for fintech and banking they can also get quite high as well.
2. Python
Thanks to its uses in big data and machine learning, Python is being picked up by more and more companies.
Netflix uses Python extensively for their recommendation engine as well as for the CDN that streams the videos.
Unless you have been living under a rock you would have also heard of Chat-GPT which, you guessed it, is also written in Python.
Python is a really simple language to learn and thanks to all the libraries and frameworks available for it, you can build pretty much anything.
Because Python is so easy to learn, the salaries vary quite a lot as well. When Python is used in the real world, however, it isn’t as simple as most of the tutorials you see on YouTube.
If you can learn some in-demand skills such as machine learning that not that many people know, then you can earn a lot as a Python developer. However, if your knowledge is limited to most of the tutorials found on YouTube, then not so much.
Lots of companies are looking to automate their workflows which Python is perfect for so, there are plenty of opportunities for freelance and contract jobs in Python.
1. JavaScript
Without JavaScript, the internet wouldn’t look anything like it does today. JavaScript is used on every single website in the world, and therefore pretty much every company could benefit from a JavaScript developer.
JavaScript is not only used for websites, it is also used for backend development thanks to Node.Js which makes it a really versatile language to know that will serve you well in your career.
If you can also learn frameworks such as React.Js as well, then you have a very good chance of getting a job as a JavaScript developer.
Salaries for Frontend Developers can range from anything from $70K to $200K a year, and it is a lot easier to learn than machine learning, for example.
If you look at the Stack Overflow developer survey, you can see that JavaScript is at the top of the most commonly used programming languages, and it has been at the top for the last 10 years.
The only downside of JavaScript is how quickly new frameworks come out. You might be using React.js now but there will likely be a new framework to replace it in a few years’ time, so you constantly need to keep up to date as new frameworks come out.
Compare that to languages like C# and Java, which move at a much slower pace and working with frameworks makes a smaller part of the job.
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