Rasmussen College conducted a study that identified the 14 best programming languages based on earnings and job opportunities in May 2015. They looked at over 18 million technology job postings that were advertised in 2014. If you’re considering which language to master next, take a closer look at these top six performers (by average yearly salary).
Ruby
Ruby had an average annual salary of $107,547 and 16,492 advertised jobs in 2014. This is a language that is designed to be simple and functional. It’s object-oriented and flexible, and it’s used in middleware and text processing programs. An added benefit of Ruby is that it can be used for web development with software apps like Ruby on Rails. If you’re just getting started in programming, this is a good one to master.
Objective-C
The average annual salary for Objective-C was $105,700, and there were 19,954 job advertisements, according to the Rasmussen study in 2014. This programming language is used to make Apple platforms OS X and iOS software. It builds on the C programming language, so if you know C, it shouldn’t be too difficult to add in Objective – C.
Python
Nearly 132,000 job advertisements called for applicants to know Python, which “known for its readability and straightforward coding philosophy,” notes Ashley Brooks in Rasmussen College’s article about its study. The average yearly salary was $104,228. Beginners find Python a good one to learn, and sites like YouTube and Google use Python.
Java
With 387,533 jobs advertised in 2014 that were analyzed by the Rasmussen study, learning Java seems like a no-brainer. The average yearly salary was $99,104. It’s a general-use language that has a lot in common with C and C++. It’s used to create apps that people use on a daily basis, and a lot of websites require Java apps to function. You can learn Java on your own easily since there are a lot of tutorials and other learning resources available on the Internet.
C
Although C is not the latest and most fashionable programming language out there, it is still used just about everywhere. It is still in use because it provides programmers control and efficiency. If you know C, you can more easily learn more difficult languages like Objective-C, C++, and C#. The average annual salary for job openings requiring C was $99,099, according to the Rasmussen study. The number of advertised jobs was 38,233.
PERL
With an average annual salary of $94,242 and 113,404 advertised jobs in 2014, Perl is a good language to learn. It’s a scripting language. It’s often used in CGI and graphics programming. A lot of the source code is available online, so you can learn by studying examples. A lot of programmers say Perl is not very attractive and clunky. It’s flexible, but it’s not pretty.
Learning programming languages is a significant amount of time and investment on your part. If you’re trying to decide which one to study and learn, consider the availability of jobs that require knowing it and the salary that accompanies those positions.
