As open source projects continue to thrive with increasing momentum, even large corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are adopting such projects of their own. Contrary to the direct opposition faced by pioneers of early open-source projects, most open-source developers are hailed in high regard within the community today.
Thanks to the smart implementation of the most popular programming languages, open source development has turned the tide in its favor.
The open-source ecosystem had become massive, thanks to the ongoing contribution of loyal community members, and it was long gone when big corporations used to incorporate personalized computer programming languages and techniques to curate their proprietary projects.
Today, most commercial applications are fueled by multiple open-source technologies. As the scope of open-source projects continues to increase, we’re seeing a lot of experimentation aimed at breaking the traditional boundaries of the top programming languages.
Newer projects are evolving every day, and not every one of them is based on the most popular programming languages. Contemporary languages such as Go, Scala, and Rust are employed heavily by many programming aficionados to create a new development paradigm. Many such projects have been successful enough to draw more attention to new programming languages.
Most Popular Programming Languages
We believe highly in the potential of many of the latest programming languages and consider them worthy enough to solve futuristic and complex programming problems.
If you’re looking for the best programming language for use on your next open-source projects, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll review the 20 most popular programming languages you can use today for crafting your dream project.
Continue reading below to discover the 20 most popular programming languages and why you should use one now. This article does not follow any specific order; it is a generic list of some of the most popular programming languages.
1. JavaScript
It should not come as a surprise when you see JavaScript at the top of almost every modern list of most popular programming languages. Thanks to its continuous integration into the latest open source projects, JavaScript has experienced a massive growth many of us old folks never anticipated. There’s more than one driving factor behind this latest trend of using JavaScript in open source projects.
With the inception of the infamous Node JS runtime, developers can employ this language in both their projects’ back-end and front-end projects. Plus, more than 94.9% of all websites today use JavaScript.
So, it opens up new possibilities every day to develop something extraordinary. As a means, most web devs embrace JavaScript, once seen as a redundant language for their latest open source contributions. With its increasing momentum, JavaScript is among the most popular programming languages today.
2. Python
One of the most used programming languages of our time, Python continues to hold its ground among open source contributors and isn’t going away soon. As a full-fledged language, Python can be employed in many different types of projects, including but not limited to developing APIs, crawlers, scrapers, back-end systems, and so on. You can even develop complex desktop applications using this popular dialect of computer languages.
Python is heavily incorporated in machine learning and data analytics, thanks to a vast number of top-notch plugins and third-party libraries. Libraries like SciPY and Panda have a massive fanbase and are exceptionally popular in the industry.
This availability of handy third-party libraries makes Python one of the most popular programming languages today. Although not dimmed, suitable for handling applications that require low-level manipulation of the system, you can use this language for almost every type of open source project.
3. Java
One of the best programming languages ever to walk the console of open-source developers, Java is still relevant to the community like it was decades ago. Since its emergence in the early 90s, Java has retained its position as one of the most popular programming languages, and for good reasons.
The JVM(Java Virtual Machine) paradigm employed in Java makes sure any software written with this language will run on virtually every system. Other top programming languages often unmatch Java’s ability to scale even the most extensive applications.
With one of the largest developer communities, Java will undoubtedly retain its position as one of the top programming languages for years to come. Industries usually always pay extra attention to Java developers.
So, developing a revolutionary open-source application using it will bring you to the front of the enormous limelight. That’s why a large number of new open source developers side with Java to build their next dream project.
4. C++
The sequel to C, the pioneer of the modern world’s most used programming language, C++, will not be redundant in decades to come. Every complex system in the world, starting from your operating system to a large government mainframe, utilizes C++ in one form or the other.
Even Google uses this language to power its most resource-intensive operations. As C++ gives developers access to very low-level system components out of the box, it is used extensively in every type of embedded system we’re familiar with.
As embedded systems like IoT devices and smartwatches continue to rise in popularity, C++ will be used much more in the future. If you’re a developer looking to break into this industry, only C++ can aid you in your most anticipated breakthrough.
Moreover, if you’re looking to build complex open-source systems that solve modern-day problems, you won’t find anything that delivers a better result than C++, one of the most popular programming languages.
5. Swift
Considering it’s a much newer language than some other picks, Swift has been going very strong in recent years. The massive boost experienced by Swift, one of the latest programming languages, is due to its convenience to open source developers.
Swift has a lot to offer the language behind most modern iOS applications regarding developing high-tech open source projects.
The scope of building iOS apps has contributed heavily to an increasing number of Swift developers as Apple’s iPhone remains one of the best mobile smartphones to date.
Swift is easy to understand and is very expressive. It enables even the newest developers to power flexible and modern iOS applications. So, we can’t but anticipate a bright future for this awe-inspiring programming language.
6. TypeScript
One of the trendiest latest programming languages, TypeScript, is designed and maintained by Microsoft. It’s basically just a superset of JavaScript with the additional ability to static typing. TypeScript is dimmed and suitable for almost every large-scale web application and can also aid in developing desktop applications, thanks to cross-platform frameworks such as Electron.
If you’re looking forward to building the next generation of web apps and finding JavaScript to be too confounding, you can embrace TypeScript for your project right away.
TypeScript reduces many of the redundancies associated with JavaScript without compromising any of its functionality. So, it’s the best programming language to develop modern open source projects that utilize a lot of web components.
7. Go Programming Language
One of the latest programming languages to gain rapid growth, Go, promises to tackle some of the hardest computational problems with a relatively subtle approach. It’s a brainchild of Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson, and Google maintains all the pioneers of this top programming language.
Go programming language combines all the benefits of C, like being a static typed, compiled language and adding modern features such as garbage collection, structural typing, and CSP-style concurrency. The language is straightforward to grasp, even for new programmers, while being extremely powerful at the same time.
Many of the latest open-source, popular projects like Kubernetes, Docker, Hugo, and Ethereum embrace Go for its convenience without lacking any must-need features. From its current standpoint, Go seems to be the language that will power most future systems.
So, if you’re looking for new programming languages that are very compelling with a helpful new community for your next open source project, delve right into Go.
8. SQL
Despite being in the industry for decades, SQL isn’t going to lose any of its charms soon. This is still one of the top programming languages that can make or break your job interviews.
Although SQL aims to solve problems for data management and can’t be used for developing other, more traditional software, SQL is and will be the go-to language to tackle all those data associated with most modern applications.
Also, as we continue to see a massive rise in the data analytics field, SQL opens up new possibilities for developing cutting-edge open-source projects. With an increasing number of data-based open-source projects coming out every day, it’s time to embrace SQL, one of the most popular programming languages, and build something extraordinary for your peers in the open-source community.
9. Ruby
One of the most used programming languages of this generation, Ruby, was developed in the mid-90s but gained most of its notoriety during the last decades. It is an interpreted, dynamic, and object-oriented language, much like Python, and even feels the same in many aspects.
With the inception of powerful web frameworks such as Ruby on Rails and Sinatra, Ruby started to power most modern web apps before losing the spotlight to JavaScript stacks. Many famous modern web apps such as Github, Airbnb, ASKfm, Goodreads, and Fiverr utilize ruby in one way or another.
Popular open source projects that employ Ruby include Homebrew, Discourse, Metasploit Framework, and many more. So, Ruby is the language to learn if you want to start contributing to big open source projects right from today.
10. R Programming Language
Aimed at aiding complex statistical analysis and solving redundant graphics programming, R is one of the top programming languages remaining in these past years. The language is most suitable for ad hoc analysis and exploring large datasets.
However, you can also use the R programming language for open-source data mining projects. R is one of the two most used programming languages data scientists use, along with Python.Â
R has much stronger object-oriented features than most statistical programming languages and comes with lexical analysis to further ease your programming experience.
Rd, R’s own LaTeX-like documentation format is widely used in the community and can help you create professional documentation for your open source projects.
If you want to curate a top-notch open source project for helping your fellow developers clean, visualize, or analyze their data efficiently, we highly recommend utilizing this innovative computer programming language.
11. PHP
Although it lost its once-reining position as the de-facto programming language for the web, PHP is still one of the most used programming languages around the globe. As there was no web language comparable to PHP during the internet’s rapid growth, PHP fueled almost every modern website until the emergence of newer web languages like JavaScript and Ruby.
Even as we speak, PHP is behind more than 40% of the total number of active websites, thanks to a continuously increasing number of websites utilizing CMSs like WordPress and Drupal.Â
So, if you think PHP is dead, you’re quite wrong. Although experiencing relatively less limelight, PHP will continue evolving for years and remain one of the most popular programming languages.
When developing your next open source web project, PHP should always be on your preferred list if you’re looking for a programming language with dynamic capabilities blended accurately with powerful database manipulation features.
12. Perl
One of the most used programming languages in the industry, Perl has lost its share of glory for decades now. Before its large-scale implementation in system administration, web development, and network programming, the original intention behind developing this general-purpose programming language was to manipulate text documents.
Perl has experienced widespread popularity and criticism at the same time during its limelight but has managed to remain in every list of the most popular programming languages. Although now obscure, Perl is still a sought-after skill in developers for many areas of large organizations.
Corporations that maintain large codebases of legacy programs often search for Perl aficionados to retain and upgrade their old but still used systems.
Developing your next open source project in Perl can thus have a significantly positive impact on your resume. Even curating common Perl scripts for solving a modern-world problem can boost your open-source credibility.
13. Kotlin
Kotlin is among the latest programming languages, like Go, that have been enjoying impressive traction right from their initial days. A brainchild of JetBrains, Kotlin is a statically typed new programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine(JVM) and can translate to a JavaScript source code.
One of the most critical factors behind Kotlin’s increasing momentum is its compatibility with the Android Studio 3. Google now officially recommends Kotlin to developers who don’t want to build their Android apps with Java. So, we can clearly anticipate it to become one of the most popular programming languages shortly.
Although still sitting in the list of new programming languages, Kotlin is already used in production by large corporations like Amazon Web Services, Pinterest, Coursera, Netflix, Uber, and Trello.
So, developing your next open source projects in Kotlin can add considerable momentum to your open source standing. You can even take on newer-generation Android projects with this awe-inspiring programming language.
14. C#
C# is the best programming language from the software behemoth Microsoft. It’s one of the top multi-paradigm computer programming languages that can be used for many different projects.
Although primarily intended for Microsoft’s .NET framework, C# rapidly took on other demanding computational challenges and became one of the most popular programming languages.
The language itself is simple and modern, with the ability to let developers take an object-oriented approach absent in C. You can think of C# as a blend of the C++ and the Java language. C# codes compile like C++ codes and have syntax like Java.
So, if you’re a programmer with adequate knowledge of Java who wants his applications to be as fast as C++ applications, C# is definitely the route to take.
One of the best reasons to side with C# for your next open source project is that it gives you the ability to craft any application you want. Starting from complex web APIs to full-fledged desktop applications, C# broadens the developer’s toolbelt and can aid him in a higher position in the open source community.
15. Rust
One of the best new programming languages, Rust, has been voted as the most loved programming language by a stack overflow developer survey for three consecutive years now. It is a very similar language to C++ and has almost the same syntactic components.
However, the developers intended to make this language more memory-safe than C++ during runtime. Overall, Rust is a general-purpose language primarily aimed at developing system applications.
The language is exceptionally suitable for developing system solutions requiring greater concurrency and aims to solve common safety issues revolving around the most popular programming languages.
Mozilla, a prominent open source software movement advocate, sponsors the language. Firefox, Holochain, Microsoft Azure, and Tor are famous open source projects utilizing this latest programming language.
So, if you’re looking to get your hands dirty with a powerful and futuristic computer programming language, Rust seems to be a logical option.
16. Scheme
One of Lisp’s two main dialects, Scheme, is a multi-purpose computer programming language that takes a minimalistic approach to system application development and aims at extending the core with powerful language extensions. The language is very old and originated at the infamous MIT AI Lab.
Scheme’s long history is enough to tell us how well this language lived up to its expectation of providing a singular approach to Lisp, one of the most popular programming languages during the inception of the open source movement. The language is used widely by famous web giants such as Google and Reddit.
Learning a somewhat old and obsolete language like Scheme might seem to be a lousy investment at first. But if you’re an old folk like me who used to feel natural during the reign of Perl and Lisp, you’ll fall in love with Scheme at first glance.
Crafting your next project in Scheme together can expose you to potential interview offers within a night, even for new developers.
17. Erlang
Another latest programming language gaining tremendous momentum in recent years is Erlang, a general-purpose, concurrent programming language with a built-in runtime. The language is known for its smart implementation of modern-day features like distributed, fault-tolerant, hot-swapping components.
The language also offers developers the ability to use immutable data structures as well as functional programming with pattern-matching support. Erlang is one of the best new programming languages and tackles every real-world problem as isolated processes can interact only by passing messages.
The language is exceptionally suitable for solving complex and futuristic problems and is hailed positively in the community. Wielding your open-source projects with this innovative language can increase your domination in the open-source community.
18. Scala
You can find Scala in almost any list of modern-day best programming languages, thanks to its innovative approach to combining object-oriented and functional programming paradigms. The language is statically typed and aims to reduce bugs as much as possible from the development period.
Scala is gaining rapid traction in the open-source community due to its ability to run on both the JVM and JavaScript runtimes. This allows developers to create a more sustainable solution for complex web apps that require up and low scaling.
19. Elixir
One of the top programming languages to come out in recent years, coupled with innovative features and sky-high capabilities, is Elixir. Elixir, one of the latest programming languages, is built entirely on Erlang and utilizes the Erlang runtime environment (BEAM) to run its code. The language supports advanced functionalities such as metaprogramming, macros, and polymorphism.
The language still sits in lists of new programming languages but is already being utilized by companies like E-MetroTel, Pinterest, Discord, Bleacher Report, and Inverse. Using this language in your next open source project can open up new windows of possibilities for your career.
20. Haskell
Haskell is among the latest programming languages that have been experiencing rapid growth in programming language popularity. The language is statically typed, taking a more declarative approach to programming modern-day applications. It’s named after Haskell Curry, a renowned logician.
The Haskell type system incorporates a type interface with lazy evaluation, meaning functions don’t evaluate their arguments. Haskell is loosely based on Miranda, one of the first computer programming languages to take a lazy functional approach. The anti-spam mechanism of Facebook is built entirely with this innovative language.
Concluding Remarks
So, at least, we’re over with this exceptionally large list. Our expert teams worked days and nights to bring this most up-to-date list in front of you. Our cordial thanks to you for staying with us throughout this long post.
We highly believe any programming language is as good as the developer who codes in it. However, when choosing a language for your next open source project, you’ve to realize that each language has its own share of pros and cons.
It’s up to you and the requirements of your project to select the best feasible language for your project.
