Top 20 Programming Languages 2027: Rankings, Trends, Salaries

Updated October 2026.

If you’ve been following tech for a while, you already know: every time things seem to have settled down, something shifts. In 2026, with generative AI embedded in developers’ everyday workflows, those shifts happened faster than ever, and they shape what to expect in 2027.

This article presents a commented ranking of the 20 most relevant programming languages for 2027, backed by data from reliable sources, with trends and a look at salaries by language in Brazil. It’s meant for anyone making technical or strategic decisions, whether that means choosing a stack, hiring professionals, or planning a product’s evolution.

How we got this list

We cross-referenced three main sources:

• TIOBE Index (tiobe.com/tiobe-index): measures popularity based on search volume for each language across dozens of search engines worldwide.
• Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 (survey.stackoverflow.co/2025): 49,000+ developers answered questions about which languages they use, admire, and want to learn.
• GitHub Octoverse 2025 (octoverse.github.com): analysis of real activity from 180 million developers on the platform.

For the salary section, we also used the 2026 Programmer Salary Survey by Código Fonte TV.

Important caveat: “most popular” doesn’t mean “best for your project.” The right language solves your problem with the team you have, not necessarily the one at the top of the ranking.

The 20 most relevant programming languages in 2027

1. Python

What it’s used for: AI/ML development, data science, automation, back-end, scripting, and rapid prototyping.

Python is still number one in the TIOBE Index, with a 17.76% share in September 2026. The lead is comfortable, but the index shows a pullback: Python is down 8.22 percentage points in a year, from a peak of 26.98% in July 2025. More specialized languages are gaining ground in niches that were once Python’s territory.

At the same time, in the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, Python grew 7 percentage points, driven by AI. Frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and scikit-learn dominate the machine learning ecosystem. If your project involves it, see how to hire a Python developer and what Python is used for.

Trend: leading, but losing share in TIOBE.

2. TypeScript

What it’s used for: front-end and back-end web development, scalable applications, large team projects.

The big story of the past couple of years. In August 2025, for the first time ever, TypeScript became the most used language on GitHub by contributor count, surpassing Python by roughly 42,000 contributors. Growth reached over 1 million new contributors in 12 months, a 66% year-over-year increase.

Two factors explain the jump. Modern frameworks like Next.js and Angular now scaffold projects in TypeScript by default, and generative AI accelerated adoption even further. A 2025 academic study found that 94% of compilation errors generated by LLMs are type-check failures, making strong typing a natural fit for AI-assisted development.

In TIOBE, TypeScript still sits outside the top 20, which illustrates the methodological differences between indices. For real-world adoption in new projects, the GitHub data is more representative. Want to go deeper? Read What Is TypeScript?, JavaScript vs TypeScript, and how to hire a TypeScript developer.

Trend: rapidly rising.

3. JavaScript

What it’s used for: front-end web development, Node.js applications, mobile with React Native.

JavaScript remains essential. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, it’s used by 66% of respondents, the most used language in that survey. In the September 2026 TIOBE Index it sits in 6th place, with 2.76%. One key nuance: much of what was previously counted as “JavaScript code” now runs through TypeScript, which explains TS growth without an equivalent drop in JS numbers.

Trend: stable.

4. C

What it’s used for: operating systems, firmware, embedded programming, high-performance software.

C holds second place in the September 2026 TIOBE Index, with a 10.28% share, up 1.63 percentage points in a year. It’s a decades-old language whose syntax served as the foundation for virtually everything that came after. It rarely comes up in startup conversations but remains absolutely dominant in systems development, kernels, microcontrollers, and any context where performance and memory control are critical.

Trend: stable, with a slight rise in TIOBE.

5. C++

What it’s used for: games, graphics engines, high-performance systems, simulations, AI infrastructure.

Right behind C, C++ holds third place in the September 2026 TIOBE Index with 8.67%. In game development, graphics engines like Unreal Engine, and physics simulations, C++ has no real substitute. Another growing front: a significant portion of the infrastructure running AI models in production is written in C++.

Trend: stable, with growth in AI and game development niches.

6. Java

What it’s used for: enterprise development, large-scale back-ends, native Android, microservices.

Java holds fourth place in the September 2026 TIOBE Index, with 7.54%, now behind C++. People declare Java dead every year, yet it remains very much alive in banking systems, ERPs, corporate applications, and large-scale back-ends. The Spring/Spring Boot ecosystem is widely adopted by companies that need resilience and long-term maintainability. Many of them are upgrading legacy versions: see our guide on migrating from Java 8 to Java 21.

Trend: stable, with a slight relative loss of ground.

7. C#

What it’s used for: enterprise .NET development, Unity games, Windows applications, cloud with Azure.

TIOBE named C# its Programming Language of the Year 2025, for the largest annual gain in the index. In September 2026 it sits in 5th place with 4.22%, giving back part of that jump (down 2.16 points over 12 months). Microsoft’s .NET ecosystem has matured significantly and now supports cross-platform development with real credibility. Unity keeps C# as its primary language, and Azure integration makes it strategically important for companies in the Microsoft ecosystem. Need people? See how to hire a .NET developer.

Trend: stable, after the strong rise of 2025.

8. Go (Golang)

What it’s used for: microservices, high-performance APIs, infrastructure tooling, cloud-native development.

Go was designed by Google with a clear goal: be simple, fast, and easy to scale across large teams. In that context, it delivers. It’s the language of choice in infrastructure tools like Docker and Kubernetes and for APIs that handle high volumes of concurrent requests. In the September 2026 TIOBE Index, Go ranks 12th with 1.10%, down 1.22 points in a year, but demand for skilled infrastructure and cloud-native professionals remains consistent.

Trend: stable in infrastructure, with lost ground in TIOBE.

9. Rust

What it’s used for: low-level systems, memory safety, WebAssembly, critical infrastructure.

In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, Rust was voted the most admired programming language for the tenth consecutive year, with 72% approval. The pitch is clear: C/C++ performance with memory safety guaranteed at compile time. Amazon, Microsoft, and Cloudflare have already integrated Rust into critical parts of their infrastructure.

In the September 2026 TIOBE Index, Rust entered the top 10, in 10th place with 1.34%, up 0.33 points in a year. Corporate adoption is still behind what community enthusiasm would suggest, and the learning curve is steep, but the growth trajectory is consistent. Learn more in Meet Rust.

Trend: rapidly rising.

10. R

What it’s used for: statistics, data analysis, bioinformatics, academic research.

R stays in the TIOBE top 10, in 9th place with 1.69% in September 2026, up 0.27 points in a year. The language is reclaiming ground it had lost to Python in data science, particularly where classical statistical analysis and data visualization are central, such as academic research and financial markets. It won’t replace Python in the AI mainstream, but it has a well-defined and active niche.

Trend: stable in the top 10.

11. SQL

What it’s used for: querying and managing relational databases.

SQL deserves a footnote: technically, it’s a declarative query language, not a general-purpose programming language. That said, any back-end developer needs to be proficient in it, and any data analyst spends a good chunk of the day writing queries. In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, SQL appeared among the most used languages with 59% adoption, and in the September 2026 TIOBE Index it ranks 8th with 2.16%, up 0.29 points. To pick the right database, see our list of the most popular databases.

Trend: stable and ubiquitous.

12. PHP

What it’s used for: back-end web development, CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal), and Laravel applications.

PHP has a reputation for being outdated that doesn’t reflect market reality. According to W3Techs, it remains the most used back-end language among websites that disclose their technology. Laravel has modernized the ecosystem considerably, and there’s an enormous number of legacy PHP systems that still need maintenance and evolution. It may not be the default choice for a greenfield project in 2027, but demand for PHP developers hasn’t gone away. In the September 2026 TIOBE Index it ranks 14th with 1.04%. See what PHP is and how it works and how to hire PHP developers.

Trend: gradually declining, but still relevant given the sheer volume of existing systems.

13. Swift

What it’s used for: iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS app development.

For anyone building on the Apple ecosystem, Swift has been the standard language since it replaced Objective-C as the primary option in 2014. Apple continues to invest heavily in the language and in frameworks like SwiftUI. In the September 2026 TIOBE Index, Swift is 18th with 0.83%, up 0.10 points in a year.

Trend: stable within the iOS/macOS niche.

14. Kotlin

What it’s used for: Android development, Spring back-end, cross-platform with Kotlin Multiplatform.

Kotlin has been Google’s preferred language for Android development since 2019 and has gradually expanded into back-end development, particularly in teams that already work with Java and want a more modern, concise language on the same JVM ecosystem. Kotlin Multiplatform is maturing and now allows code sharing across Android, iOS, and web. Although it sits outside the TIOBE top 20, it remains the standard on Android.

Trend: stable, with growth in cross-platform mobile development.

15. Dart (Flutter)

What it’s used for: cross-platform mobile and web development with Flutter.

Dart on its own would have little relevance without Flutter. Paired with Google’s framework, it became the language for building applications with a single codebase that runs on Android, iOS, web, and desktop. Flutter adoption has grown significantly in recent years, especially among teams that need fast mobile time-to-market.

Trend: rising, tied to Flutter’s growth.

16. Scala

What it’s used for: large-scale data processing, distributed systems, big data with Spark.

Scala isn’t a day-to-day language for most projects. It’s highly specialized and has a demanding learning curve. Where it shines is in high-volume data pipelines, where Apache Spark, written in Scala, still dominates. Anyone working in data engineering at companies handling significant data volumes will eventually run into Scala.

Trend: stable in a specialized niche.

17. Shell / Bash

What it’s used for: automation, system scripts, CI/CD, DevOps, Linux server administration.

It doesn’t stand out in popularity rankings, but it’s everywhere. Deployment scripts, task automation, continuous integration pipelines: Bash is the glue holding much of modern infrastructure together. Any back-end developer or DevOps engineer needs at least basic Shell fluency.

Trend: stable and ubiquitous in infrastructure.

18. Lua

What it’s used for: game scripting, embedded in applications like NGINX and Redis, tooling automation.

Lua is small, fast, and easy to embed in other systems. Historically popular in game development (it’s used in Roblox, among others), it also shows up as a configuration and extension language in products like NGINX, Redis, and Neovim. Luau, Roblox’s gradually typed dialect of Lua, was among the fastest-growing languages by percentage on the GitHub Octoverse 2025, with growth above 194%.

Trend: stable in its niche, with growth in games via Luau.

19. Elixir

What it’s used for: distributed systems, real-time applications, high-availability back-ends.

In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, Elixir ranked third among the most admired languages, with 66% approval. Built on the Erlang VM, it delivers fault tolerance and concurrency in an elegant way, and the Phoenix framework is highly regarded by those who use it. Job market demand is still lower than community enthusiasm suggests, but Elixir has specific use cases where it stands out, such as real-time chat and financial systems.

Trend: stable in its niche, high admiration.

20. Zig

What it’s used for: low-level systems, replacing C in high-performance and safety-critical contexts.

In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, Zig appeared with 64% approval among the most admired languages. It’s a young language with no garbage collector and manual memory control similar to C, but with better tooling to avoid common pitfalls. It’s gaining traction in infrastructure projects and compilers and growing in the WebAssembly ecosystem. Still a bet on the near future rather than a mainstream language today.

Trend: emerging, with consistent growth.

What Changed Since 2026?

The most significant shift is structural: AI is influencing not just how code is written, but which languages developers choose.

TypeScript benefited the most. Strong type systems help catch errors generated by tools like Copilot before they reach production, and modern frameworks have made TypeScript the default starting point. Rust and Go continue gaining ground in infrastructure, where security and performance are non-negotiable.

In TIOBE, Python still leads but has lost more than 9 percentage points since its July 2025 peak, while the top 10 remains stable and the movement happens near 20th place. Perl and Ruby left the top 20, making room for two veterans, Ada and Objective-C, and Julia is close to re-entering the list. Visual Basic and Fortran keep their index presence thanks to legacy systems but rarely appear in new projects.

How Much Do Developers Earn in Each Language? A View from Brazil

Language choice is also a cost decision. There is no single global salary ranking by language (the Stack Overflow Developer Survey breaks pay down by role and country, not by language), so here is a concrete regional data point. The 2026 Programmer Salary Survey by Código Fonte TV, one of Brazil’s largest developer communities, collected answers from 17,046 professionals between February and June 2026. Average monthly salaries, in Brazilian reais (BRL), for the languages with the most respondents:

Three takeaways:

• Go and Kotlin lead, with smaller samples. Both sit above R$ 13,000, in more specialized markets (infrastructure, high-performance back-ends and Android). Go was the only language on the list whose average fell compared to 2025.
• Java, C# and TypeScript form the large middle tier, all above R$ 11,000. TypeScript grew the most of the three (+15.7%), in line with its rise on GitHub.
• Python and JavaScript, the most popular languages, have lower averages. One possible reading is that a large base of beginners and junior developers pulls the average down. Popularity brings volume of openings, not necessarily the highest pay.

How to read these numbers: they are self-reported simple averages that mix all seniority levels, so treat them as a market reference, not a salary offer. For a specific project, ranges shift considerably by seniority, company size and region. If you’re weighing remote or nearshore teams, our article on Brazil and Portugal nearshoring covers how those models work.

NextAge: The Right Partner for Any Stack

Choosing the right language is just the beginning. The real challenge for IT managers is having the right professionals to work with it, inside a process that actually delivers.

That’s exactly where NextAge comes in. The company provides strategic allocation of agile squads and high-performance talent for companies looking to accelerate their digital transformation without the headaches of direct hiring. Professionals are validated both technically and behaviorally, and a dedicated Tech Lead ensures alignment and efficiency throughout the engagement.

For projects with a defined scope, you get cost and timeline predictability without sacrificing the flexibility to reprioritize as the market demands. And for teams already in motion, Nextflow AI integrates generative AI directly into the development lifecycle, speeding up delivery and reducing rework, regardless of which language the project runs on.

Get to know NextAge

Frequently Asked Questions

How many programming languages exist?

There are over 700 programming languages in existence, but only around 20 to 30 are actively used in professional software development. The most widely adopted include Python, JavaScript, Java, TypeScript, C#, C++, Go, Rust, Swift, and Kotlin. The vast majority of production software worldwide is written in fewer than 10 of these.

What is the most popular programming language in 2027?

It depends on the source. Python leads the TIOBE Index, JavaScript is the most used language among developers in the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, and TypeScript is the most used language on GitHub by contributor count. For web applications specifically, JavaScript remains the foundation.

What is the difference between a programming language and a coding language?

The terms mean the same thing and are used interchangeably. “Programming language” is the formal academic and professional term. “Coding language” is a more casual, everyday expression. Both refer to a formal language with specific syntax that developers use to write instructions for computers to execute.

Which programming language should I learn first?

Python is the most recommended first language for beginners. It has simple, readable syntax, a large supportive community, and strong demand in the job market across multiple fields. If your goal is specifically web development, JavaScript is the better starting point, since it is the only language that runs natively in web browsers.

Which programming language pays the most?

In Brazil, according to the 2026 Código Fonte TV Programmer Salary Survey, the highest average monthly salaries are for Go (R$ 13,642) and Kotlin (R$ 13,506), followed by Java (R$ 11,457), C# (R$ 11,206) and TypeScript (R$ 11,142). Figures vary significantly by seniority, company type and region, and niche languages tend to have fewer openings than the most popular ones.