While Python is IEEE’s leading programming language, the spotlight is on SQL, which tops the organization’s job rankings.
Python once again tops the list of IEEE’s top programming languages for 2022, continuing a streak that began in 2017. It was closely followed by C, C++ and C# along with Java and JavaScript – “the latter supported by the ever-increasing complexity of websites and in-browser tools,” wrote Stephen Cass, Special Projects Editor at IEEE Spectrum in a blog post.
The top 10 programming languages on the list are:
- Python
- C
- C++
- C#
- Java
- SQL
- javascript
- R
- HTML
- TypeScript
Experts say Python is so popular because it’s easy to learn and use. To be functionality includes “built-in high-level data structure, dynamic typing and binding, and object-oriented programming,” said Sannan Malik. It also helps that Python is available in a large number of data analysis and machine learning libraries and is compatible with most major operating systems.
SQL rises to the forefront of programming languages
Most notable, Cass noted, is the rising popularity of SQL, which ranks #1 in the IEEE’s job rankings. While it may not be the most glamorous of language, “some experience with SQL is a valuable arrow to have in your quiver,” he said.
“The strength of the SQL signal is not that there are many employers who are just looking for SQL coders, as they advertise for Java experts or C++ developers,” explains Cass. “They want a certain language plus SQL. And a lot of them want that ‘plus SQL’.”
TO SEE: Python Programming Language Cheatsheet: Guide to 2022 (TechRepublic)
He theorized that this is likely because so many applications today use a front-end or middleware layer that talks to a back-end database, often over a network to eliminate local resource constraints.
“Why reinvent the wheel and try to hack your own database and associated network interface protocol when? so many SQL implementations are available? Chances are, there’s already one that fits your use case,” Cass said.
Cass goes on to say that “even when a network back-end is not practical, embedded and single-board computers can be found with enough power to run a SQL database local.”
The increasing use of databases is another reason why SQL dominated the IEEE rankings. SQL has become the primary search language for accessing and managing data stored in databases, especially relational databases, which represent data in tabular form with rows and columns, according to the IEEE.
The ubiquity of databases means that every developer must interact with them, regardless of field, and SQL is the de facto standard for that, Andy Pavlo, a professor specializing in database management at Carnegie-Mellon University, said: explained to the IEEE.
Furthermore, the growth of streaming architecture is another contributing factor to the rise of SQL, the post noted. Whether a programmer is coding in Python or C++, it is increasingly important that his application can talk to an SQL database.
Methodology
Cass defended the IEEE’s inclusion of HTML/CSS as a programming language, explaining that “the tags in the source code are primarily intended to do things like ‘present this text in a tabular format’ or ‘make this header bigger than the body language.'”
He added that the IEEE “let pragmatism be our guide”.
The IEEE said that data for the ranking is collected by a combination of manual collection and APIs (application programming interfaces) and combined using an R script. The nine metrics used include Google Search, Twitter, Stack Overflow, Reddit, and IEEE’s Xplore Digital Library and job site, as well as CareerBuilder and GitHub.
