Which Programming Language Dominates 2024? IEEE Spectrum’s Surprising Rankings Revealed

Welcome to IEEE Spectrum’s 11th annual most popular programming language ranking, which combines multiple metrics from various sources.

Python first, Rust rises

In the overall “Spectrum” ranking, Python holds the top position for the ninth consecutive year, far ahead of Java.

Python’s dominance is attributed to its extensive libraries in hot fields such as AI and its prominent role in education, where it is often the first language taught to students.

Classic languages like Java, JavaScript, and C++ remain near the top, while Rust has jumped from 18th last year to 11th this year.

Rust, focused on system software development, offers memory safety through techniques that prevent unsafe memory writes, addressing a common source of security vulnerabilities.

Rust’s rise has been boosted by a February U.S. White House cybersecurity report urging the use of memory‑safe languages instead of C and C++. Correspondingly, C’s popularity fell from 4th to 9th place.

Beyond the leading languages, some notable trends appear:

Two languages entered the ranking for the first time: Apex, designed for building commercial applications on Salesforce back‑ends, and Solidity, used for creating smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

Languages such as Forth were removed from the IEEE list.

Special projects editor Stephen Cass noted that, although Forth dropped off the list, it remains a personal favorite and is still popular among hobbyists building 8‑bit retro systems due to its tiny memory footprint.

SQL popular in job market, C declines

The “Jobs” ranking reflects employer demand, showing Python still high but SQL leading the job market. SQL’s popularity ties closely to the emphasis on networking and cloud architectures, as databases are central to modern systems.

TypeScript, the superset of JavaScript, rose from 11th to 4th place, valued for its static typing which enables more thorough error checking during compilation.

C continued its decline, dropping from 7th to 13th in the “Jobs” ranking, likely impacted by the White House security report.

Despite fluctuations, legacy languages Fortran and COBOL remain in demand; Fortran mainly for high‑energy physics groups, while COBOL is still essential for many government and financial systems.