The IT industry is the fastest growing of all on the labor market. The dynamics of its development requires more and more new specialists, for whom the demand is huge and constantly growing. Following this demand, the earnings of programmers are also growing, and one of the important factors of their amount and growth rate, apart from experience and localization, are programming languages.
The Popularity Of The Programming Language And Earnings
According to the report “Job market in IT in 2018” by No Fluff Jobs [1], Scala Developers earned the most in 2018, among which the average monthly salary was around 13,000. PLN gross (an increase by 4% compared to 2017). Slightly lower earnings were achieved by programmers using Angular, Java and Python (PLN 12.5 thousand gross, a corresponding increase by 6-10%). On the other hand, PHP Developers earned much less, an average of 9.5 thousand. PLN gross, but their earnings increased the most, respectively, by as much as 12 percent. Of course, specialists in large cities earn the most in the IT industry: Warsaw (PLN 13,000 in 2018), Kraków and the Tri-City (PLN 12,000), Wrocław (PLN 11,500). A decrease in salaries (by 4%) was recorded only in Silesia.
According to the same report, the most in demand were programmers who know JavaScript, Java, and Angular, but there has also been a significant increase in demand for Python and Scala programmers, as well as iOS and Android technology specialists.
However, the mere knowledge of programming languages is not enough to obtain a good position and adequate remuneration. The IT specialist must constantly undergo training. It requires a lot of reading and following all the news. In addition, the so-called soft skills, i.e. the ability to reason logically, work in a team, as well as openness to changes.
Programming Languages In The Frontend Area
The concept of Frontend refers to the appearance and behavior of the page, i.e. what the user sees after clicking on a link or entering the address into the browser: menu, photos, buttons, etc. accessories necessary to view the page.
- JavaScript is currently the most popular programming language in the world. According to various studies, it is used by almost 70 percent. programmers. It is mainly used to create web applications. It enables, among others programming of animations and interactive buttons, multimedia management, etc. It is fairly easy to learn, fast and compatible with other programming languages. However, it is not an ideal language; its downsides relate to code enforcement, which lowers device security
- TypeScript offers to simplify and maintain written code. Its main advantage is the ability to compile to JavaScript. It is also simple to learn. It is still not very well known among programmers, but Microsoft forecasts that it may overtake JavaScript in terms of popularity in the next few years
- HTML 5 is the new version of the popular HTML. It is a language that everyone who attends computer science lessons at school knows about the basics. This language is designed to create simple web pages, which can also be made interactivity using JavaScript. HTML is the easiest programming language to learn for anyone looking to enter the computer science profession. Programming for kids also begins with learning HTML.
Programming Languages In The Backend Area
Contrary to the concept of Frontend, the term Backend means what the user does not see, i.e. the technical background of the website, the administration panel and the structure of the website created by the webmaster. In other words, Backend is everything invisible, but necessary for the proper functioning of the website.
- Python is currently attracting the most attention and is considered to be the most promising. It is intended mainly for creating desktop and web applications. It is used for Data Science-related analysis as well as for server-side programming. It is simple to learn. However, it also has disadvantages, the major one being the slowness of its multiprocessing programs. It is also not used to create mobile applications
- Java – an object-oriented language with a stable and reliable position on the market – it is Java that is the basis of the Android system, used in the vast majority of mobile devices. It is also used to create a variety of applications. It is liked because of its high level of readability, code stability and flexibility (enabling, for example, data recovery), although its syntax is somewhat archaic. The disadvantage of the Java language is its difficulty (although it is considered simpler than C ++) for people with little IT experience, which is why specialists who know it well are in great demand on the labor market and are among the highest-earning IT specialists. That is why Java is taught, inter alia, by post-secondary schools training programmers.
- Kotlin – a cross-platform programming language that runs on and completely compatible with Java Virtual Machine. Unlike “traditional” Java, it has simplified code syntax, as well as more features. It has been recognized as the official programming language for the Android platform, which is why it is quickly gaining popularity. Its degree of difficulty is on par with Java, and some believe that Kotlin even surpasses her in this respect. Once mastered, however, programmers are eager to abandon Java in its favor. It is therefore believed that Kotlin is definitely the language of the future.
- Golang (Go) – a high-level language, easy to learn and efficient, developed by Google developers. It is mainly used for the development of cloud applications and the production of distributed systems. It has a lot of fully automated solutions not available in other languages, and its advantage is fast compilation.
- PHP – a well-known and popular scripting language, mainly used to create interactive websites. It is slowly starting to give way to Python and JavaScript, although today the vast majority of websites are still based on PHP. It owes its popularity mainly to WordPress, the code of which is almost 100 percent. has just been written in it. Nevertheless, IT specialists place PHP in one of the last places in the ranking of programming languages, mainly due to the huge “memory-hunger”, slowness of operation and code repeatability. However, PHP also has advantages, the greatest of which is the low so-called entry threshold, i.e. the possibility of making modifications with the knowledge of the basics. Easy and simple to learn, despite some antiquity, it is eagerly used by beginners.
What To Bet On?
When looking for a job in the IT industry, you should first determine which language is best to learn to have better chances of being employed for an attractive salary. We should not make a mistake and learn the basics of several languages at once. It’s much better to master one and keep improving – the programming language is always dynamic. Therefore, when choosing a language, it is necessary to think about its use and future chances.
We need to consider whether we will decide to stay in our current place of residence for various reasons, or whether we are ready to move to a larger city – as long as the job offer just found meets our expectations, but is related to the trip.
We should also remember that knowledge of a programming language with an established reputation and position on the market will always be useful, because most of the newly emerging technologies are based on such languages.
