Python is the top programming language this year again, according to the recently released list on top programming languages in 2020 by IEEE. The yearly list by IEEE, which is the largest professional organisation devoted to engineering and applied science, ranks the popularity of dozens of programming languages on various platforms.
The list of rankings can be selected on the basis of what is trending, languages that are in demand by employers, languages popular on open-source hubs and more. It also allows users to make their own ranking by adjusting the weights using the “Create Custom Ranking” option.
The ranking also takes into account the language types:
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Join our editors every weekday evening as they steer you through the most significant news of the day, introduce you to fresh perspectives, and provide unexpected moments of joy
Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to AIM Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
- Web: languages used for developing websites and applications
- Enterprise: languages used in the enterprise, desktop and scientific applications
- Mobile: languages used for applications on mobile devices
- Embedded: and those used to program device controllers.
Python also ranks on the top across languages that are in demand by employers and on open-source hubs. While Java is the most trending language after Python, C stands second to Python in languages that are in demand by employers.

C++, Javascript are other languages that follow on the IEEE ranking list. R, which is often considered one of the most preferred languages, has been placed 6th in the ranking, which is one position down from last year. Whereas in terms of the languages that are trending, R is ranked on 15th position.
Other popular languages that made it to the list are Arduino, Go, Swift, Matlab, Ruby, Dart, SQL, Scala, Shell and more.
As per IEEE, the ranking was created by weighting and combining 11 metrics from eight different sources such as CareerBuilder, GitHub, Google, Hacker News, the IEEE, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and Twitter.