Most Popular Programming Languages & Frameworks List for 2024

For developers, staying on top of the most popular software development languages and frameworks is crucial to remain productive and competitive. New tools emerge every day, so it can be challenging to discern which are worth learning and using on projects in 2024 and beyond.

As an experienced development services provider, Softermii aims to stay on top of the latest trends. We want to ensure we offer our clients expert guidance on the optimal coding languages and approaches for their needs - whether building natively for iOS or Android, working across platforms, or shipping products more efficiently.

In this article, we will share research and insight on:

• The most relevant programming languages and coding frameworks
• The top choices for native Android and iOS development
• The best options for cross-platform development

So take a few minutes to read and see what's new!

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A 2024 list of the most popular programming languages and frameworks, plus top picks for native and cross-platform development.

The best language lets developers write readable, streamlined code, reduce bugs and handle complexity with less code.

In 2023, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Python, SQL, TypeScript and Bash were among the most used languages worldwide.

Emerging languages to watch: Crystal, Elixir, Dart, Go and Clojure.

Languages split into high-level (Python, Java, C++) and low-level (assembly, machine code) categories.

HTML/CSS rank in the top 5 most-wanted web languages for 2024; HTML5 is ideal for web-fronted mobile apps.

JavaScript underpins front-end development, powering Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and Wikipedia.

JavaScript frameworks like Angular, Node, Express and React enable write-once, release-everywhere development.

Softermii provides expert guidance on optimal languages for iOS, Android and cross-platform projects.

List of Top Programming Languages for 2024

The next question is based on the reasons one or another programming language can be considered the best to use when another is not.

In a nutshell, the top coding language is the one that allows developers to write easy-to-read and streamlined code, reduce the bugs numbers and handle complex functions with less code.

In 2023, JavaScript, HTML / CSS, Python, SQL, TypeScript, and Bash were some of the most used languages worldwide.

As Stack Overflow's 2023 developer survey shows, the programming languages ranking from the point of view of professional programmers are almost the same.

It means that the technologies from this list are wanted and will be applied by engineers in their future work. Thus, with proven software experience and recent research data, we have compiled the best languages and frameworks list to use at different stages of the development process and for different purposes in 2024. 

Please note that ranking the most popular software development languages changes yearly, but the same coding languages almost always remain at the top.

Read also: Video Streaming App Development

List of the Latest Programming Technologies

Now you know which coding languages are currently trending. But what about the new programming languages that are gaining traction?

Let's look at some emerging programming languages worth your attention in 2024.

• Crystal. This object-oriented language, with a syntax similar to Ruby, appeared in 2014 and is static, aiding in early bug detection during development.
• Elixir. It is a functional programming language with strong dynamic typing that appeared in 2012. It makes it possible to develop highly scalable and reliable systems.
• Dart. It is a C-style programming language developed by Google in 2011. It is a decent alternative to JavaScript, offering more scalability and performance.
• Go. It is another C-style programming language created by Google in 2009. It is more sophisticated than Java and C++ and safer than Python and Ruby.
• Clojure. It is a general-purpose programming language that appeared in 2007. It's a dialect of the Lisp language and is suitable for supporting multiple simultaneous computations.

These are just a few modern programming languages currently gathering steam and shaping app development trends. Keep reading to learn more about other technologies viable for your software project.

Different Types of Coding Languages

Soon, we'll jump to the list of computer languages for front-end, backend, Android, iOS, and cross-platform development. But first, let's discover the types of programming languages.

Here are the two categories:

High-Level Coding Languages

High-level coding languages are programming languages that allow engineers to write code regardless of the type of computer they use. Major examples include Python, Java, and C++.

Low-Level Coding Languages

Low-level coding languages are programming languages that provide little or no abstraction from hardware, i.e., computers. Examples of such languages are assembly and machine code.

Front-End Programming Languages List for 2024

Both junior and senior web developers should learn the specifics of each programming language they use to develop robust web solutions. To help you achieve this goal and enrich your skills, we present a short report on the best front-end programming languages for 2024.

HTML/CSS

Any web tech stack list would not be complete without Hypertext Markup Language and Cascading Style Sheet. These two are listed in the top 5 most wanted web development languages for 2024, a sure sign of their market penetration and popularity worldwide.

Want to build a web-fronted app for mobile devices? HTML5 is your best choice! Yet, it's not a programming language, so it is frequently used with JavaScript. It allows you to organize all your page content highly intuitively. It is supported by any browser and optimizes the appearance of your pages for any device.

One of the use cases of HTML5 today is Google Docs or Google Drive. The adoption of HTML5 is due to the offer of reasonably robust cross-platform support. The biggest advantage is making your files lightweight, consisting of easy and clean coding, and it's completely free, no matter if you are operating with a limited budget.

JavaScript

JavaScript is the basis of front-end development and supports object-oriented and functional programming. It is a language run by browsers and used to develop and control web pages and is most widely used in the world for developing web applications like a Single Page Application or SPA. Also, you have heard of applications such as Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, and Wikipedia. All of them run on JavaScript.

It allows you to code the app once and release it on all platforms, including Android, iOS, and Windows. You can easily manage multimedia with it and combine it with other languages. Types of computer programming languages like JavaScript are nearly timeless. With the release of popular frameworks like Angular, Node, Express, and React, it became possible to use Javascript for client- and server-side programming.

WebAssembly

WebAssembly's popularity rapidly grew and made the list of the most popular front-end programming languages. That is a great computer programming language for beginners. Programs made using it can go where JavaScript cannot, especially related to media editions, image recognition, transcoding, and VR. You can also use it to develop high-end games, emulation, or desktop-tier applications.

More use cases of WebAssembly include visualizing data in real time, doing real-time simulations, editing and annotating PDFs, etc. Moreover, Google Earth is running in any browser now with its help.

WebAssembly doesn't replace JavaScript and goes alongside it. Some JavaScript code is required to load WebAssembly modules. This language runs in all major browsers and platforms, making it a perfect choice for building a progressive web app.

The Most Popular Web Framework for Front-End in 2024

Curious about the most popular programming languages frameworks for front-end design in 2024? Look no further than what it was in 2023. React.js, Vue.js, and jQuery were used more than any others. Angular and Svelte also make it to the list, though they have not gained widespread usage quite as these others have.

Read Also: SvelteJS for Web Development

Node.js and .Net

Node.js and .Net are in the top ten list of other frameworks of programming languages developers like to use.

Event-driven and asynchronous Node.js is extremely fast, and while single-threaded, it is highly scalable. It also offers the ability to use Javascript everywhere: front-end, middle-tier, or server-side.

Some of its use cases include the online learning platform Coursera and the UI/UX design tool Figma.

.Net is free, cross-platform, and allows the building of different types of applications. Meanwhile, it has one consistent API common to all .Net implementations. There is a large and thriving community that you can turn to for support. It is also host-agnostic and lightweight. The typical use cases are web, mobile, desktop, games, and IoT. Companies like Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft use this framework for their business app development Angular

Angular allows the building of highly scalable and high-performing web applications. It is specially designed to simplify creating user interfaces and overcome the restrictions of other existing technologies. Angular is best suited for most enterprise and dynamic web applications like Gmail and PayPal.

Besides, if you want more data on this, you can use our previous insights on the most relevant web development languages and frameworks for upcoming years and find more details.

You may also find interesting our experience in video chat app development.

Backend Programming Languages List for 2024

After we've discussed the top list of front-end programming languages and frameworks, it's time to combine all these aspects by adding the last ingredient so your web solution is fully built. Let's look at the list of top programming languages for the backend in 2024.

Python

It is the second most admired language by developers. Its popularity is attributed to Python's ease of learning and use. It can integrate with other popular languages like C and C++.

It's a universal coding language with pretty readable code. In Python, developers can handle asynchronous coding, which means alternate processing cycles. Also, this lang supports most of the list of programming libraries, both open-source and object-oriented.

Brands like Instagram and SurveyMonkey often use it. At the same time, Google, Netflix, and Quora can't do without it. Also, such applications as Dropbox, Calibre, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, BitTorrent, OpenStack, Quora, and Spotify are written using it. The applications are artificial intelligence, financial services, and machine learning. Due to these advantages, Python has dominated the market and has become very appreciated by developers.

Java

When thinking about all coding languages, Java has just as much backend potential as it does front end. It is useful for the creation of all kinds of Android applications. It also has a special value in developing cross-platform applications. Java is widely used to develop Android, servers, web, embedded space, big data technology, scientific apps, websites, and games.

It is a highly readable and easily manageable language. You don't need any dedicated infrastructure; you also get excellent security. Automatic memory management provides you with the stability that is hard to beat.

The most popular applications are NASA WorldWind, Blu-Ray Disc Association, Ultra Mixer, and Android Operating System.

PHP

Although not as popular as it was once, PHP has remained in the top 20 computer languages for backend development for the last few years. There is a huge, active community that uses PHP. It is used for server-side scripting, command-line scripting, and coding applications. 

Dynamic websites are also often created with PHP. However, developers can also use it to develop Android and iOS apps. It may be interesting that WordPress, Slack, Canva, and Magento use PHP.

To summarize, these three coding languages are at the top for software development among engineers and businesses.

By the way, since we mentioned scripting, here is a scripting languages list that we consider the best in our opinion:

• JavaScript/ECMAScript

• PHP
• Python
• Ruby
• Groovy
• Perl
• Lua
• Bash

Please read our guide on telemedicine app development.

Best Programming Languages for Android

Mobile operating systems also have their favorites. There is an ongoing discussion about which is better for Android apps, Kotlin or Java. Let's look at each of them.

Kotlin

Kotlin is among Android's best-loved assembly language programming options. More developers are turning to it, which should continue into the new 2024 year.

Kotlin is a new object-oriented first-class programming language ranking with multiple advanced features. Kotlin is unique in supporting almost all IDEs, including Android Studio and SDK toolkits. Due to its quite concise and perceptive syntax, it is easy to learn, and fewer bugs can be found in the code.

Read also: Most Popular IDEs for Software Development

With Kotlin, efficiency is the name of the game. It's easy to learn, so experienced programmers and amateurs love it, but it is also quite effective in coding your applications.

Top companies and apps that use Kotlin include Google, Pinterest, Trello, and Tinder.

Java

Java for Android app development is a basic programming language that many users embrace. It is a major presence with programmers of all experience levels. Android consists of APIs and Java libraries. Because of this, the two are a natural fit for each other.

Android APIs and Java coding look and feel the same, like extensions of the same thematic elements. As we mentioned earlier, Java can be used fairly easily to develop Android apps and is of little use when developing iOS apps.

The most famous use cases of Java for Android apps are Twitter and Spotify.

Best Programming Languages for iOS

You may be thinking about which programming languages will remain at the top when creating native apps for iOS. Well, let's highlight the best two and find out the reasons.

Swift

According to a Stack Overflow report, about 61% of responders want to continue using Swift. It was specially made to suit the requirements of the modern iOS development process. Swift was launched for iOS, its supporting systems, and Linux. Swift handily won this year's battle with Objective-C.

Besides being available for iOS development, it also works on Linux and is open source. The huge application area includes everything that functions on iOS: iPhones, iPads, watchOS, and tvOS. Apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and SoundCloud use Swift.

The main reason that Swift is so popular is that it provides critical safeguards that improve readability and reduce errors as you move along. It's built with performance in mind and is extremely fast. It is more than eight times faster than Python. Using Swift and the other special iOS development features, you can create a pretty reliable and trending mobile application.

Objective-C

Objective-C was the primary programming language to develop iOS apps for years. It hasn't lost popularity and is still used for building iOS apps. Objective-C is also compatible with C and C++ libraries.

However, it takes a lot of work to learn. Objective-C is unavailable as open-source. Security is the second issue why developers prefer Swift. Still, companies like Uber, Pinterest, and Slack have worked with Objective-C for many years. This language allows messages to be passed between objects, which is useful for iOS operating systems.

Best Cross-Platform Programming Languages

Finally, we can look at programming languages suitable for running on multiple platforms. Read below about the languages to create cross-platform software.

Rust

Rust is a system programming language known to be safe, concurrent, and practical. It is open-source and memory-safe, so it does not permit null pointers, dangling pointers, or data races. Its concrete syntax is similar to C and C++.

It is elegant and user-friendly for those with less experience. It is also useful in web and operating system contexts. The only disadvantage is the hard and confusing installation on Windows.

Dart

If you are going by contributor count, one of GitHub's most popular open-source projects is Flutter. Google introduced this cross-platform framework. In the two years since it originally debuted, Flutter has expanded support to Linux, iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.

The Dart programming language is used to write Flutter apps. Google Dart enjoyed a spike in GitHub usage in 2019. If you're doing anything cross-platform nowadays, Dart might be worth your time to consider.

Read Also: NFT Marketplace Development

Ruby

Any list of programming languages and frameworks is probably going to include Ruby. The most significant reason behind its popularity is its full-stack framework, Ruby on Rails.

Ruby is an object-oriented, dynamic, and general-purpose language. It simplifies your programming work and offers a standard structure for web and mobile apps. Despite this, it seems to be decreasing in popularity due to a low run-time speed.

TypeScript

TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript. That means some developers don't consider it a "full" programming language. However, it is rapidly gaining prominence among coders.

TypeScript is beginning to forge inroads into JavaScript's market share. It is worth paying attention to, even if you don't buy the assessment that it is the new and improved JavaScript.

Clojure

Clojure is growing popular as a hosted language. It shares the JVM type system, GC, threads, etc. All of its functions are compiled into JVM bytecode. It could be the easiest programming language based on its ease of use with Java.

Clojure is a great Java library consumer, offering dot-target-member notation for calls to Java. Clojure supports the dynamic implementation of Java classes and interfaces.

Elixir

More programmers are also becoming comfortable with Elixir for assembly programming. It is a dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable, maintainable apps.

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, which runs low-latency, distributed, fault-tolerant systems. It is also used successfully in web development and the embedded software domain.

Go Lang

Go Lang is one of the most modern languages, known for its performance and efficiency. It also shares some similarities with C/C++. The syntax of the Go Lang programming language is quite easy to master. Some feel that it is even more intuitive than Python and JavaScript.

Go Lang is supported by Google. Since Google is probably the most trusted tech company, you will not face any stability issues if you decide to use it. In DevOps management, it stands out with high performance, scalability, efficiency, and modularity.

C/C++

Two of the fastest and most powerful languages, C and C++, are often used for game development.

Memory management with them remains pretty simple. That's why the majority of the operating systems and lots of popular software are built with it. When you master C/C++, you discover much about operating systems and their fundamentals.

R

R has been gaining popularity in recent years, because of interest growth in data analysis from several sectors. It provides a wide array of packages and is entirely open-source. You might wish to learn R programming because of its cross-platform compatibility alone. The leading coding language to learn is great on several platforms, so R is definitely worth your consideration.

Softermii Experience

Softermii has extensive expertise in the software market. Our specialists are well-versed in numerous programming languages and frameworks. In particular, we skillfully leverage the following technologies:

• React JS, Redux, GraphQL, Storybook, and Typescript for front-end development
• ASP.NET Core, EF Core, NodeJS, ExpressJS, NetJS, GraphQL, Typescript, Sequelize, and TypeORM for backend development
• Kotlin, Java, RxJava, JUnit, and Espresso for Android development
• Swift, RxSwift, RxCocoa, Alamofire, and Moya for iOS development
• ReactNative, Redux, React Navigations, and RxJs for cross-platform development

Using these cutting-edge tech stacks and even more, we deliver top-notch projects in various industries that succeed in the competitive software market. Here are some of them:

Expedipay

Expedipay is a mobile banking app that features secure P2P transfers, eWallet, live chat, and eKYC. Our team used .NET Core, Kafka, AWS, PostgreSQL, React/React Native, and MongoDB to deliver this application.

Soundit

Soundit is a decentralized mobile app that prioritizes audio content. It features audio creation, live streaming, live chat, a news feed, and advanced algorithms for user promotion. We created this application by leveraging TypeScript, CassandraDB, MySQL, Redis, Objective-C, Swift, and Agora.

PractiCall

PractiCall is a web and mobile application for video conferencing. It features audio and video conferencing, live chat, breakout rooms, screen sharing, and web admin. Our team needed ASP.NET, C#, GraphQL, Node.js, Typescript, PostgreSQL, Swift, Kotlin, React.js, and Mediasoup to deliver this app.

You can find more successful projects where we have used the latest programming technologies.

Final Thoughts

Mastering one or two modern languages or frameworks can significantly expand your skillset. Established tools like JavaScript, Python, and React are likely to remain widely used for years. Meanwhile, languages like Go and Rust and with new frameworks appear set to gain more followers.

If you're unsure about the best tech stack for your project, Softermii can provide tailored recommendations based on your goals, budget, and timeline. With years of expertise across industries, our technical advisors can analyze your needs, matching you with the right technologies for success.

Whether you plan to build, launch, or scale a digital product, our experienced team is here to help. Contact us today to discuss your goals and project needs!