There are about 700 coding languages that exist in the world of programming.
Understanding the significance of each programming language and how they can impact the particular tasks we need to perform are paramount.
Since there is no way we can sit here and look over 700 of these coding languages (Even if we could it would probably not be the most resourceful activity in the world!) it is a great idea to briefly go over some of the most popular languages of 2020 and beyond.
We will analyze the features, benefits, disadvantages, and future scope of these top 10 articles and determine if it is worth learning or not. Some of the choices may be opinionated, but the viewers can decide by themselves what suits them best after looking over all the facts. Let us start analyzing each of these languages from scratch in descending order!

10. C
C is a general-purpose, procedural computer programming language supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope, and recursion, with a static type system. By design, C provides constructs that map efficiently to typical machine instructions. Despite being the reason for the existence of most of the programming languages, it still has its niches in a variety of fields like embedded systems, microcontrollers, and embedded level operations.
Future Scope:
C in some applications might be outdated but it by no means going to go extinct any time soon. It was a wide array of uses and real-world applications and will be applied in the industry for years to come. It might be hard to learn but in the end, it’s probably worth doing so if you have the time and resources.
Pros:
- It is an extremely flexible language.
- Very useful for embedded systems based applications.
- Overall powerful and efficient language.
Cons:
- Slightly outdated language.
- Complex to learn in the initial stages.
9. C
C# is the first C clone that will be discussed in this article. C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines. C# is exclusively used in the gaming industry. Software tools like Unity also use C# for creating games.
Future Scope:
C# is a language whose popularity is rising and is probably here to stay for the upcoming years thanks to its effective abilities in creating games and robustness that help the gaming industry. It is also extremely useful in enterprise applications.
Pros:
- Integrates very well with the Windows platform.
- Easier language to learn in comparison to C.
- Since C# is a compiled language it is secure.
Cons:
- Known to have issues with certain Linux frameworks.
- The code must be compiled each time leading to certain constraints.
8. PHP
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994; the PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. It is suited more towards server-side web development but unfortunately, it is considered as a dying language with better alternatives to perform similar tasks.
Future Scope:
PHP is considered now to be an overall dull language and not that impressive. There are better alternative programming language options available in comparison to PHP. However, it does find its uses in ethical hacking and cybersecurity as well as website designing fields.
Pros:
- Automate common web development tasks.
- Used in ethical hacking and cybersecurity.
Cons:
- The requirement to learn PHP requirements for writing PHP code.
- Lack of option to modify core behavior
7. Ruby
Ruby is an interpreted, high-level, general-purpose programming language. It was designed and developed in the mid-1990s by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto in Japan. Ruby is dynamically typed and uses garbage collection. Ruby is a typical scripting language and it has a wide range of real-life applications in websites like GitHub, Fiverr, etc.
Future Scope:
Ruby is still used for a considerable number of applications in today’s world. So, it is probably a good language to consider learning because you will be able to develop sophisticated applications in no time. It also good technologies keeping it very relevant even today.
Pros:
- It has a great number of helpful tools and libraries.
- The community for Ruby is quite big and active.
Cons:
- Shortage of flexibility and a simple mistake can be quite costly.
- The performance time is an issue because the boot time of the framework is quite long, especially when you work with a massive project,
6. C++
C++ is an object-oriented programming language. C++ is a superset of C. Most of what we already know about C applies to C++ also. Therefore, almost all C programs are also C++ programs. However, there are a few minor differences that prevent a C program from running under the C++ compiler. The most important facilities that C++ adds on to C are classes, inheritance, function overloading, and constructor overloading. It is used extensively for AAA games and the development of 3-D models.
Future Scope:
The scope for C++ similar to the previously mentioned C and C# is still popular and learning it will never be a bad idea. Especially C++ because it is comparatively an easier language to pick up and learn. It has a wide range of applications in the industry. Also used for AAA games as well alongside graphical designs and 3-D models.
Pros:
- C++ is considered an extremely portable language.
- It allows low-level manipulation of code.
- C++ is very scalable because C++ programs are capable of running on a small scale as well as a large scale of data.
Cons:
- Slight security issues exist in C++.
- Pointers consume lot of memory in C++.
5. TypeScript
Typescript is a newer programming language. TypeScript is a programming language developed and maintained by Microsoft. It is a strict syntactical superset of JavaScript and adds optional static typing to the language. TypeScript is designed for the development of large applications and trans compiles to JavaScript. It provides coders with better interface modules, easier coding, navigation, error management, etc.
Future Scope:
The future for TypeScript seems particularly strong because it is developed by Microsoft, and lots of additional features are being added to make coding, navigation, programming interface, and other things much more user-friendly and make the lives of programmers a bit more easier.
Pros:
- Better type annotations and overall interface.
- Makes code management easier.
- Rising popularity and trust.
Cons:
- Overly complicated typing system in comparison to JavaScript for some users.
- Compulsory requirement for compilation.
4. Go
Go or Golan was developed by only 2 employees in Google in 2012. Go is a statically typed, compiled programming language designed at Google by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. Go is syntactically similar to C, but with memory safety, garbage collection, structural typing, and CSP-style concurrency. Go is an open-source programming language that makes it easy to build simple, reliable, and efficient software.
Future Scope:
Go is an extremely popular and rising language. The potential for Go is high and it is definitely a language worth considering to learn more about. Go is even starting to be used in artificial intelligence and machine learning recently alongside many other applications. So, overall Go is a good language to start learning.
Pros:
- Robust and extremely simple.
- It has a smart library to accomplish complicated tasks.
- Strong built-in security.
Cons:
- Lack of a virtual machine.
- Sometimes too simplistic – Go may be an easy language to pick up, but that brings with it a lack of versatility.
3. Java
Java is a class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. Java is a general purpose language that is well for games and mobile app development. It is also useful in enterprise-level applications as well as web apps. It provides structure and maintainability of code.
Future Scope:
Java is considered as a slowly dying language similar to PHP but unlike the latter, it is still widely used in many companies. It can also be used to create multiple products and has a wide array of applications. It is relevant and popular enough to be considered as a programming language to learn.
Pros:
- Provides structure and maintainability of code.
- It is simple and platform-independent.
- It is secure and also is multithreaded because it allows a program to perform multiple tasks at any instance.
Cons:
- Memory consumption is high.
- Slower performance compared to other languages.
2. Python
Python is an object-oriented, high-level programming language that was released way back in 1991. Python is highly interpretable and efficient. Simply put – Python is amazing. I initially started out with languages like C, C++, and Java. When I finally encountered python, I found it to be quite elegant, simple to learn, and easy to use. Python is the best way for anyone, even people with no prior experience with programming or coding languages, to get started with machine learning. In spite of having some flaws like being considered a "slow" language, python is still one of the best languages for AI and machine learning.
Future Scope:
Needless to say, python has a bright future in the development field of programming languages, especially in the fields of data visualization, artificial intelligence, data science, exploratory data analysis, and machine learning, among many other applications.
Learn more about python in the below two articles:
Starting Your Journey to Master Machine Learning with Python
Basics of Python and its Library Modules Required for Machine Learning
Pros:
- python is very simple and consistent.
- Extensive resources with respect to a wide range of libraries and frameworks.
- Great community and continuous updates. The python community in general is filled with amazing people and constant updates are made to improve python.
- Versatility and platform independence. This means python can import essential modules built in other programming languages as well.
Cons:
- It is sometimes considered as a slow language due to the implementation time of certain algorithms being slower when compared to other programming languages.
1. JavaScript
JavaScript, often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that conforms to the ECMAScript specification. JavaScript is high-level, often just-in-time compiled, and multi-paradigm. It has curly-bracket syntax, dynamic typing, prototype-based object-orientation, and first-class functions. It is an extremely popular language and used everywhere on the web. It is an extremely versatile language for building interactive front end user interfaces.
Future Scope:
JavaScript is an extremely popular language. It is so widely used that it might take quite some time for another programming language to replace it. It also finds applications not in just web development but also in artificial intelligence and other applications. This language should be at the top of anyone’s list as a language to learn.
Pros:
- Very simple and versatile language.
- Fast speed because it is an interpreted language.
- Highly interpretable and works well with other languages as well.
- Rising popularity and good interface.
Cons:
- Client-side security is sometimes compromised.
- Lack of debugging facility.

Conclusion:
This article covered the concise list of the top 10 programming languages used as of the time of writing this post. However, this does not mean that one of them is better than the other, or the ones ranked lower are not that useful.
Each programming language is unique in its own way and can be utilized for various purposes. So, don’t stop learning a new programming language if you have the time, resources, and opportunity to do so!
I would highly encourage all of you to look into these programming languages and check out what they hold for the future of coding as well as their resource contribution towards Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and data science as a whole.
The main source and reference for this article is GitHub, 3rd quarter 2020.
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Thank you all for sticking on till the end. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this article. I wish you all have a wonderful day ahead!