Most developers know JavaScript — and want to know Go

JavaScript has maintained its status as the most widely known language, according to the 2020 HackerRank Developer Skills Report released this week. Java, C, and Python also ranked highly. 

The scripting language for in-browser applications finished tops for the second year in a row in this category. But only five percent of respondents cited JavaScript as the language they used to learn coding.

Released on February 4, the 2020 report by HackerRank, the provider of a technology hiring platform, was based on an online survey of 116,648 software developers from 162 countries, conducted last November and December.

The top 10 most-known languages were as follows:

1. JavaScript
2. Java
3. C
4. Python
5. C++
6. C#
7. PHP
8. TypeScript
9. Pascal
10. R

HackerRank’s report covered a multitude of questions pertaining to software development and hiring practices. Other findings of the report:

• Go is the programming language developers most wanted to learn, for the third year running. Following Go were Python and Kotlin.
• Angular was ranked the best-known framework, followed by React. Django rose to sixth place, two spots above last year.
• Backbone.js is the framework associated with the highest pay, followed by Cocoa and Ruby on Rails.
• C is overtaking Basic as the language most often used to learn programming by developers ages 39 and younger. Most developers ages 40 to 74 started with Basic.
• Globally, 14 percent of hiring managers are language-agnostic when it comes to new hires, with the trend most-pronounced in the Americas region, where 21 percent were language-agnostic.
• Small companies are the most likely to hire developers who lack a four-year college degree.
• The most in-demand skill for software developers is full-stack development, with full-stack defined as all layers of the tech stack and being able to generate a minimum viable product on their own.
• U.S. developers are the highest-paid. Globally, 39 percent of developers believe they are not paid fairly.

HackerRank’s findings with respect to JavaScript jibe with a recent report from developer skills tester DevSkiller, which said JavaScript was the most in-demand IT skill for 2020.