Dear Developers: Coding Languages That Will Set You Apart in 2023

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Any software engineer will tell you: There are a plethora of coding languages out there and varying attitudes toward each at both the company and individual levels. To dive deeper, Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report examines coding languages that set candidates apart from their peers and the preferences of developers.

Which programming skills were highest in demand by employers?

In 2022, engineers skilled in Ruby on Rails received 1.64X more interview requests compared to Hired’s marketplace average. This year, Ruby on Rails moved up one position to take the top slot as the most in-demand engineer skill. Ruby and Scala came in second and third.

Hired CTO Dave Walters said, “Ruby on Rails is a very mature and easy-to-use framework, which leads to its popularity among engineers and engineering leaders. It allows for faster coding (or increased productivity) which helps engineers deliver minimum viable products and features at a higher pace.”

In 2021, the leading programming skill was Go. Larger companies such as Slack and Twitch rapidly adopted it last year. Its simplicity and power made it popular among engineers. Dave added, “While a favorite among engineers, Go may be less in demand by employers now due to a temporary shift in hiring needs.”

How the engineers feel about coding skills

Employer demands aside, developers themselves have their own opinions of the different coding languages. This is often due to how many resources there are for learning and development related to a particular language or how “fun” they are to use.

In our survey of over 1,300 software engineers, we found engineers ranked Python as their favorite programming language. JavaScript and Java followed as the second and third choices.

Beyond coding languages

Knowing which languages will set you apart from the rest can help you make your profile more attractive to prospective employers. However, it’s just one piece of the engineering talent puzzle.

In addition to more granularity about coding languages and their competitiveness, the 2023 State of Software Engineers report dives into top roles, market trends, and salaries. The research gives you a better overview of:

The state of the market
Where the market is going
How to best tailor your experiences and skills

Originally written by Napala Pratini in March 2019. Updated by Hired Content Team in October 2023.