According to the survey, Clojure, TypeScript, Elixir and Julia took the next four spots, respectively, in the top five most loved programming languages amongst developers. Despite how popular Apple’s devices are, the company’s Swift programming languages was the eighth most popular language amongst developers.

Rust, though, is not only a favourite amongst developers. A July 2021 whitepaper from BlackBerry noted that cybercriminals and malware makers are also adopting the language to build trojans that can be used for infiltrating devices. “Malware authors are known for their ability to adapt and modify their skills and behaviors to take advantage of newer technologies,” said Eric Milam, vice president of Threat Research at BlackBerry. He added:

“This has multiple benefits from the development cycle and inherent lack of coverage from protective products. This paper looks into less prolific programming languages and their use in the malware space. It is critical that industry and customers understand and keep tabs on these trends, as they are only going to increase.”

Further, despite efforts by companies like Google and Apple to put an end to JavaScripts, the language remains the most common amongst scripting languages. These are often used to track users’ activity online and to make web pages interactive. HTML/CSS and Python were also preferred by developers.

Amongst frameworks and libraries – code written by others that can be used to solve common problems – Google’s TensorFlow was amongst the top five while Microsoft’s .NET was the most loved framework. The company’s Windows was also a favourite operating system amongst developers, while Linux-based operating systems came in second. Apple’s MacOS was the third most preferred operating system for developers.

Python could soon be the most popular programming language, battling it out for the top spot with JavaScript, Java and C, depending on which language ranking you look at. But while Python adoption is booming, the fields that are driving it are still in their infancy.

Most respondents (63%) said they used Python frequently or always while 71% of educators said they’re teaching machine learning and data science with Python, which has become popular because of its ease of use and easy learning curve. An impressive 88% of students said they were being taught Python in preparation to enter the data science/machine learning field.

Given Anaconda’s audience, it’s not surprising Python was by far the most popular language used. It was followed by SQL, R, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Java, Bash/Shell, C/C++, C·, Typescript, PHP, Rust, Julia, and Go.

Over a third of 4,299 data science professionals, students and academics who responded to Anaconda’s online survey this April to May said their organizations decreased investments in data science, while 26% increased their investment and 24% said investments were flat. It’s not clear what impact the pandemic has had on investments in data science tools and technology.

Some 39% reported that “many” of their business decisions rely on data science, while 35% said only some business decisions were based on insights from their team. A quarter of respondents said they lacked the resources for effective analysis, while another quarter said decision-makers at their organization struggle with data literacy, and 11% said they or their team couldn’t demonstrate a business impact.

Only 36% described their organization’s decision-makers as “very data literate” and actually understood data visualization and models. Just over half said decision-makers were “mostly data literate”.

Anaconda also asked respondents to nominate all the skills they believe their organization currently lacks. The top missing skill was in “big data management” at 38%, while 26% said their organization was lacking advanced mathematics, and a quarter cited “business knowledge” as lacking.

Other commonly cited skills in short supply were deep learning (27%), communication skills (22%), data visualization (22%), machine learning (21%), Python (20%), and probability and statistics (19%).

The top problem that most data science folks felt needed to be tackled in artificial intelligence and machine learning was “social impacts from bias in data and models” (31%), followed by “impacts to individual privacy”. Both of these issues have been highlighted by the adoption of AI and facial recognition in public surveillance systems. Microsoft president Brad Smith recently called for the government to regulate facial recognition due to racial bias.

Other top concerns included job losses from automation (19%), advanced information warfare (15%), and lack of diversity and inclusion in the profession (10%).

Just 10% of respondents said their organization had implemented a solution to ensure fairness and mitigate bias, but Anaconda found 30% were planning to implement a step in the next year.

The Explainability and interpretability of ML models was another large gap. Some 31% said their organization lacked plans to ensure explainability and interpretability, but 41% said plans were in place to implement some steps in the next 12 months or have one step already.

Most respondents (65%) said their employers encouraged them to contribute to open-source projects, but 18% of respondents said employer support for open source decreased due to COVID-19 or other factors.

Some 41% said security bugs in open source software was the main obstacle preventing their organization from using open-source software. Python and many of its popular data science and machine learning packages/libraries, such as NumPy and TensorFlow, are open source projects.

Interestingly, a quarter of respondents said they were not securing their open-source pipeline while 20% didn’t know what steps their organization was taking to ensure vulnerabilities are managed. Anaconda provides an enterprise service to help organizations block or include packages that meet an enterprise’s standards. It also has a managed library of 7,500 open-source packages for Python.

However, what’s more interesting is that the search of Java developers is growing. The percentage of job advertisements has increased with 3% in the first six months of this year.

According to surveys, by the end of 2024, 63.1% of the overall number of developers, which is supposed to reach 28.7 million of people, will be using Java, together with Python, HTML/CSS, as well as SQL. This means that there will be more than 18.1 million of programmers. A reason for this is the fact that tech giants, such as Oracle, Google, Amazon and Microsoft continue to use Java and invest in the development of the language.

Both career fields require extensive programming experience, a strong attention to detail, and a knack for problem solving, but they have different workflows, maintenance requirements, and levels of complexity. For example, web developers often work in close collaboration with business and marketing experts to ensure their company’s website is efficient, user friendly, and aesthetically pleasing. Software developers, on the other hand, tend to work with other tech-oriented co-workers on large-scale software, operating system, and mobile application projects that might not require input from other business units. Ultimately, the career path students choose should align with their professional goals and personal interests, which is why it’s crucial to explore each role in detail before committing the time and resources.

Becoming a Web Developer

Web developers are responsible for how a website or web application looks and functions, from its user interface and page layout to back-end systems for gathering data. They work with organization leaders to design unique and engaging websites for businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, and anyone else looking to communicate more effectively online. Web developers are also in charge of maintaining the performance of the websites and applications they create, ensuring users have a consistent and positive browsing experience. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, common web developer job responsibilities include:

• Coordinating with clients/business leaders to outline new web design projects
• Creating and testing web applications and website features
• Writing code in various programming languages, including HTML/CSS, XML, and JavaScript
• Integrating content into websites, such as graphics, written copy, videos, and audio
• Establishing technical requirements to support websites’ long-term functionality
• Developing security elements to protect user data and business assets
• Monitoring website traffic and performance

Diving a bit deeper, the web development field can be broken down into three specialized areas based on a candidate’s particular skill sets and professional interests: back-end developers, front-end developers, and full-stack developers. Each of these web design roles comes with different expectations and responsibilities:

Back-end web developers: These professionals focus on the technical aspects of websites and web applications that support both basic and advanced functionality. They largely work on administrative components including databases, website architecture, and application logic, creating new APIs and user interfaces based on predefined specifications. Generally speaking, this type of developer is concerned with how websites and web-based applications work on a fundamental level.

Front-end web developers: Sometimes called client-side developers, these design experts are in charge of how websites and applications look and function from the users’ perspective. They are responsible for making all online content easy to access, browse, and interact with, especially for users who may have limited computer skills. Front-end web developers must also ensure their websites are compatible with a wide range of operating systems, browsers, and devices to prevent display and functionality errors.

Full-stack web developers: As the job title suggests, these web design professionals are proficient in both front- and back-end development tasks. Most full-stack web developers have extensive experience in application design, user experience, and programming languages like HTML, XML, JavaScript, MySQL, and others. As such, they are able to fill advisory roles and technical positions that require both computer science and business savvy.

Becoming a Software Developer

Software developers invent, manage, and optimize computer programs that run on desktops, laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Using different programming languages ― such as Java, Python, C#, and SQL ― these computer science professionals write complex code that governs how desktop applications function. Many software developers work for large technology companies, like Microsoft and Oracle, designing new products or fine-tuning existing applications. This includes troubleshooting code bugs, updating user interfaces, creating new in-app tools, and much more. According to the BLS, software developers have some combination of the following responsibilities:

• Analyzing users’ needs and designing software-based solutions
• Recommending software upgrades to existing computer programs and systems
• Designing new applications for specific audiences (consumers, enterprises, etc.)
• Creating detailed models and diagrams that outline which software code is needed
• Documenting all aspects of application and system design for future reference
• Testing code for new applications to ensure consistency and efficiency
• Ensuring software is compatible with present data management systems

Software developers are heavily involved in every stage of the application design process, from the initial planning to the final rollout of new computer programs. However, just like web developers, professionals in this field are often categorized into specific roles based on their specializations: software applications developers and software systems developers.

Software applications developers: These professionals tend to focus on designing specific desktop and mobile applications, tools, and games for consumer audiences, according to the National Center for O*NET Development (NCOD). They often work on the same project for many years and are responsible for ensuring their software is functional, engaging, and efficient.

Software systems developers: Developers in this role are largely concerned with designing systems-level software for enterprise customers, rather than the public, according to the NCOD. They use their extensive programming knowledge to create computing applications for a range of industries, from manufacturing to aerospace and beyond. The software they develop is used to manage corporate networking apps, database management systems, and other critical infrastructure.