As the functionality of the Internet becomes more complex, and applications and operating systems of technology more dynamic, the need for highly-developed and intelligent programming languages is clear.
Many different programming languages have been created since the beginning of the Internet, and continue to be created with the need for different systems rising.Â
The average salary for some programming languages can be as high as $130,000 USD, or even more, depending on the level of programming being done.
This is an extensive list of the highest paid programming language, using the reference point of United States based developers when referencing the salary. Read on to find out just how much highly-skilled workers in the tech-world can earn!
Top 15 Highest Paid Programming Languages (All You Need To Know)
1. Go:Â $130,000 USD/yr
Developed by Google in 2007, Go programming language (also referred to as Golang) was introduced in late 2009. It’s an open-source platform that’s used by a range of well-known successful services such as Dropbox, Netflix, and SoundCloud.Â
The popular features that have made Go a success include fast start-up time, parallel process efficiency and memory use efficiency.
This language continues to be picked up by tech-companies creating platforms and applications, as it’s a trusted and dynamic programming language. It’s made it to the top of our list of the current highest paid programming languages.
The highest quoted salary for a Go developer is currently averaged at about $130,000 USD in the United States.
2. Perl: $120,000 USD/yr
Perl is a programming language that refers to two different variations, known as Perl 5 and Perl 6.
They are high level, general-purpose dynamic programming languages. Perl was originally developed in 1987 by Larry Wall as a Unix scripting language to make report processing easier.Â
After evolving throughout the years, Perl now is used in similar ways to C, Shell Script and AWK, among others. Text processing elements and manipulation of text files are two strengths of this programming language.
The most recent quoted highest salary in the United States for a Perl developer is $120,000 USD a year, close behind Go.
3. Swift: $120,000 USD/yr
This programming language was developed by Apple Inc. For the use of developing macOS, iOS, WatchOS, tvOS, Linux and z/OS. It was created in 2014 and is one of the more recent developing languages in this list of the highest paid programming languages.Â
It’s a general-purpose, multi-paradigm compiled language that works both with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch Frameworks, along with the existing Objective-C code that has been written for Apple products.
Swift was created to be able to support protocol extensibility and address software bugs and errors, making it not only a dynamic language but also one that is also safe to utilise in several ways online.
The upper-salary for a developer using the Swift language averages at $120,000 USD annually in the United States.
4. Kotlin:Â $115,000 USD/yr
Developed by the IT company called JetBrains around 2011, the Kotlin language is currently the official development language for Android. It was announced at a Google conference in 2017 and has spread to be used now exclusively by Google since the beginning of 2019.Â
Kotlin serves as compatible to, but also an alternative to Java, with its easy to understand laconic syntax and cross-platform, statically types and general-purpose functioning.
Even as a relatively new language, compared with those created in the 1980s and 1970s, it’s high up on our list of the highest paid programming languages.
In the United States, the average high-end annual salary for developers of Kotlin stands are $115,000 USD.
5. Java: $112,000 USD/yr
The Java programming language was also developed in 1995, and it’s a client-based, object-oriented language that is intended to allow application developers write code one time, and use on multiple platforms that can support Java.Â
It’s a language that is often used to create servers and mobile applications, and is the main technology used to develop applications for the Android operating system.
There have been many versions of Java throughout these past 20+ years, with Java 12 is the most recent version in 2019.
The current average annual salary for experienced Java developers in the United States is $112,000 USD.
6. Ruby: $112,000 USD/yr
Ruby is a programming language designed and developed in the early 1990s, and launched in 1995, by a Japanese developer, Yukihiro Matsumoto. It’s well known for developing the server section of web services.
It’s a high-level and general-purpose language that supports multiple programming paradigms.Â
The overarching idea behind the language, which is stressed by Matsumoto, was the development of a clear and easily functioning language that operated under the principle of least astonishment (POLA).
He wished to make this language an enjoyable and understandable, in a way which does not sacrifice accessibility for those using the language just for speed.
In the United States, the upper average annual salary for a Ruby developer is $112,000 USD.
7. Python: $111,000 USD/yr
Python was created in 1989 as a high-level, general-purpose programming language. It was released in 1991 officially and sought to share its unique take on emphasising code readability with extensive use of whitespace in the code.
Its object-oriented approach leads programmers with a clear coding interface for large-scale projects.Â
The language is often used for mathematical calculations, data analysis, machine learning, task automation, and web development. It was used during the development of big web brands including Dropbox, YouTube, Google, and Reddit.
The average annual salary that high-end Python developers receive in the United States is $111,000 USD.
8. C#: $110,000 USD/yr
Pronounced ‘C-Sharp’, the C# programming language is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm coding language that supposed object and component-oriented disciplines, and allows lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional and generic operations.
It was developed in 2000 by Microsoft, along with the .NET platform infrastructure.Â
Essentially, this language allows developers to create applications on the .NET platform. The most recent version was released in 2019 and is the C# 7.3.
There are always new versions being created to stay on top of the more complex demands of the evolving world of online functions in websites and applications.
The average salary for a high-end developer of the C# programming language in the United States is $110,000 USD.
9. JavaScript: $105,000/yr
Created in 1995, JavaScript enjoys widespread knowledge around the world by developers, with more than 70% of programmers understanding this computer language.
Often known and referred to as JS, this language is a core technology of the Internet, as it enables interactive web pages, which is an essential part of website applications.Â
Unique to JavaScript is the dynamic typing, multi-language, functional and object-oriented programming styles, and more features. JavaScript is one of the most well-known languages and just makes it into the $100,000+ bracket on our list of the highest paid programming languages.
The average high-end salary for a developer using JavaScript in the United States is $105,000 per year.
10. Uniex Shell:Â $97,000 USD/yr
A Shell Script what most people in technology refer to, though the script itself is a program designed to be run by the Unix Shell programming language. The language is referred to as Shells, or ‘command-line interpreters – which was developed first in 1971.Â
The different operations that Shell Scripts perform include program execution, printing text, and file manipulation. Unix Shell Scripting has a dynamic scope, which develops connections across systems that can make processing high amounts of application-generated data-efficient and time-saving.
The average high-end salary for jobs utilising the Unix Shell language in their work in the United States is $97,000 USD.
11. PHP: $92,000 USD/yr
With the longer name of PHP: Hypertext pre-processor, this general-purpose processing language was designed for web development.
PHP originally stood for ‘Personal Home Page’ when it was developed in 1994 but now continues to be referred to the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.Â
The evolution of PHP has seen it move from not having any written formal specification standard, until 2014, when work has gone into creating a more formal PHP specification for users to align with.
The upper-end annual salary for a PHP designer in the United States has been quoted to be $92,000 USD.
12. Rust: $90,000 USD/yr
The Rust programming language has a large focus on safe concurrency. It is syntactically similar to the language C++, designed to provide safety of memory, while still maintaining high performing functions.
It was created originally in 2010 and has been growing in popularity since then. It can run on embedded devices and easily integrates with other languages.
It’s also an integrated package manager and build tool with multi-editor support and more auto-formatting.
The average annual salary for a high-end Rust developer in the United States is $90,000 USD.
13. Objective-C: $85,000 USD
Used to develop apps in the Apple environment for Mac OX and iOS, this language was created way back in 1984 and is currently used supportively with the newer language Swift, as explained above.
It’s one of the older forms of language in this list of the highest paid programming languages.Â
It is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that was selected as the main language used by NeXT for the NeXTSTEP operating system, which the macOS and iOS are derived from.
Since the implementation of the Swift language in 2014, the demand for developers who have this skill has lessened, as Swift developers general learn this language as a component of learning Swift.
The average higher-end salary for developers using the Objective-C programming language is quoted to be around $85,000 USD in the United States.
14. Pascal: $85,000 USD
Designed as a small and efficient language intended to use to assist structured programming and data structuring, the name of Pascal is actually a nod to the French Mathematician, Philosopher, and Physicist Blaise Pascal.
It first began to be created as far back at 1970, again making it one of the oldest language in this list of the highest paid programming languages.Â
It became successful in the minicomputer market that was emerging at the time and later was used in university-level programming courses in the 1980s.
Since then, it has become popular with the use of UNIX-based systems and later extensions to the Pascal concepts let to the creation of other popular languages known as Oberon and Modula-2.
The average annual upper-end salary of Pascal developers is $85,000 USD in the United States.
15. TypeScript: $82,000 USD
Developed in 2012, TypeScript is an open-source programming language that was created and is maintained by Microsoft. It’s a syntactical superset of JavaScript, but still it’s own language in itself.
It was designed for the development of large applications using JavaScript, which can be used on the server and client-side in its execution.Â
Developers choose TypeScript to incorporate JavaScript libraries, use existing JavaScript code, and to be able to run on any browsers or engine that supports JavaScript code or ECMAScript 3.
The average annual salary of an upper-end TypeScript developer is $82,000 USD in the United States.
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