For the ninth time, the IEEE has searched for the most popular programming language. Python was the winner – but if you are looking for a job, you should also rely on SQL.
The professional association IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – has regularly presented a list of popular programming languages as part of its IEEE Spectrum Magazine for nine years. It is hardly surprising that this list also places Python in pole position. It becomes more interesting when the results are weighted more towards the job search aspect. For this perspective, the makers behind the IEEE magazine have found another champion for the year 2022: SQL – the database language Structured Query Language.
Python on top – C still on his heels
As with the recently published Tiobe Index, Python takes the top spot in this survey. But C follows closely in the list. According to the IEEE team, the combined popularity of C and the major C-like languages such as C++ and C# would even outstrip that of Python by some margin. Java is also still popular, as is JavaScript. The IEEE experts attribute this to the increasingly complex websites and browser-internal tools, while also pointing out that some developer circles are now deliberately propagating reduced static websites that were only created with HTML and simple CSS.
In the online report on the current top list of programming languages 2022, the IEEE team also goes into detail about the methodology and problems with this type of survey. They basically look at nine metrics that they believe are well suited to measuring the languages in which developers program. Sources include GitHub, Google, Stack Overflow, Twitter, and IEEE Xplore.
The data and the sources
The raw data is then normalized and weighted according to the various rankings offered – for example, the Spectrum standard ranking is said to be heavily biased toward IEEE member interests, while trending places more weight on forums and social media metrics. A complete list of sources used is also available online.
For the past few years, IEEE Spectrum has allowed its readers to bypass the default rankings and create their own ranking by adjusting the weighting as they see fit. However, it turned out that very few readers took advantage of this opportunity. By doing without this function, the IEEE team can now pre-calculate the preset rankings instead of offering an app that contains the data for all metrics and then calculates the rankings in the browser on the fly.
SQL as an additional language is in high demand
Nevertheless, users can find an overview graphic on the IEEE website, which, in addition to the usual list, also shows the respective position of a programming language in the job ranking. In this representation, SQL then takes the lead.
According to Stephen Cass, who is also responsible for this ranking as editor for special projects at IEEE Spectrum, the job ranking is based exclusively on the metrics of the websites IEEE Jobs and CareerBuilder, both of which have a focus on the US market. Cass goes on to say that his research found that SQL’s strong position isn’t because many employers are only looking for SQL programmers the way they’re looking for Java experts or C++ developers. They almost all want a specific language plus SQL. And there are many companies that expect this “plus SQL” from future employees. Further information on the selection of the programming languages and the background can be found on the IEEE Spectrum website.
