Survey: Top Coding Languages for Beginners & AI Use Among Software Developers

Group work in person

Annually, Stack Overflow provides one of the most comprehensive software developer surveys. This year, over 65,000 developers shared opinions and insights on subjects like coding languages for beginners, preferred tech tools, the use of AI in software development, and more.

In this post, we’ll focus on two aspects of the overall survey: the best coding languages for beginners, and the use of AI to learn how to code. Let’s dive in!

Top Coding Languages for Beginners in 2024

Survey respondents were divided into Professional Developers, people who are Learning to Code, and Other Coders. (Visitors can also see the overall results on the All Respondents tab.)

Among all respondents, JavaScript remained the top programming language. According to Stack Overflow, “JavaScript has been a mainstay in the developer survey and on Stack Overflow since our first survey. The most popular programming language has been JavaScript every year we have done the survey except for 2013 and 2014, when SQL was the most popular language.”

That’s an impressive run. In this year’s survey, roughly 62% of all respondents said they’d used JavaScript for “extensive development work” in the past year. HTML/CSS came in second (52.9%), while Python and SQL were tied for third.

For people in the Learning to Code category, the results were a bit different. Python came in at #1 on the list, rounded out by HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Java in the top 4.

In our coding bootcamps, we teach multiple languages (see image below), including HTML/CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and Java, a coding language often used on large-scale projects across many sectors.

What we teach in in our coding bootcamp, including programming languages.

No matter which language you learn first, every single one has value. That’s because when you learn to program in one language, it becomes easier to learn and work with others. Our graduates finish the program as full-stack software developers, ready to take on a variety of technical roles using a range of programming languages.

Insight into AI Tools Being Used by Software Developers 

There’s a lot of anxiety around artificial intelligence and its rapid expansion into fields including software development. But Stack Overflow’s 2024 survey provides a hopeful perspective, especially for aspiring software developers who can use these tools to learn faster and more effectively.

According to the survey, 72% of all respondents view AI tools for software development as favorable or very favorable, with another 19% saying they’re indifferent to the technology. Only about 6% were unfavorable or very unfavorable.

Survey results show that respondents in the Learning to Code category think AI tools can help them:

  • Increase productivity (73.7%)
  • Speed up learning (70.8%)
  • Greater efficiency (59.8%)
  • Improve accuracy in coding (35.9%)
  • Make workload more manageable (29.4%)

It’s important to keep in mind that AI tools can help coders, as indicated above – but they do not replace the need for foundational skills and understanding.

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