Earlier this year, Glassdoor put together a list of the highest-paying jobs in the country. While physicians and lawyers predictably topped the list, Glassdoor found that software developers, software architects and other tech roles ranked within the top 25 — all of which require working knowledge of code.
But with hundreds of languages out there, it can be difficult to determine which are the most valuable to learn. We caught up with some local tech experts to find out what employers want in 2017.
Responses from Dr. Bjorn Freeman-Benson, CTO
What programming languages are most in-demand at your company right now?
Go, Javascript+React, and Node. InVision is a SaaS application with a powerful single-page-app front-end. The front-end is all React. The backend services that support that SPA are written in mostly Go and Node with a smattering of other languages.
Which languages does InVision look for most on resumes?
We look for Go and Node and React but more than specific languages we look for evidence of experience building SPAs with distributed scalable back-end services. If we find engineers who have built successful products but used e.g. Angular with Java backends, that would be much better than someone who had worked on toy applications in Node. Really we look for experience building and operating at scale rather than a specific language.
What do you think will be the hottest languages of 2017?
Python is crossing all industry segments right now and I think it will make a strong comeback in 2017. Python is the linga franca of Tensorflow and deep learning systems like Tensorflow, Torch and Theano are where a lot of exciting work is going to be happening next year. Plus Python has an impossibly large set of libraries for doing just about anything.
Acquia makes it possible for the doers and dreamers to craft the digital world by delivering the universal platform for the world's greatest digital experiences. To accomplish this, we consistently look for Open Source enthusiasts who get excited about using the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). In addition, we look for experience with HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, and of course Drupal! — Shawn Lugdon, Talent Acquisition Lead, Product and Technology
Responses from Kristen Tyrrell, Head of Growth
What programming languages are most in-demand at your company right now?
The most in-demand languages we see employers hiring for are still the classics: Java, JavaScript, C, C#, PHP. These languages are incredibly important for startups and enterprise companies alike. Although some specific companies we work with need Python and Ruby, most are sticking with the languages that will allow for integration with existing systems and software. There's also a separate movement around data languages – R, Python and SAS are very beneficial for those looking for jobs in analytics and data mining.
Which languages do you look for most on resumes?
Users with a well-rounded set of languages are the most valuable for our tech employers. Right now, Javascript combined with a high level language like Ruby, C# or Java is great combination. C is a must for industries where high performance is non-negotiable. People who list too many unrelated languages are almost an immediate red flag. It's best to focus on the languages where you have expertise, rather than listing every project you may have come across that gave you a taste of CoffeeScript or Perl.
What do you think will be the hottest languages of 2017?
Undoubtedly, the React Native framework on Javascript. Being able to cut your mobile development teams in half and have unified releases is HUGE benefit for startups trying to manage tech costs. Expect premiums for skilled React Native candidates. Also, it's exciting because there's a huge opportunity with React Native to shape the capabilities and tools in such a new language. We'll also put a plug in for "Go". Docker was built in Go, and Docker is super hot, so it could be one of the hot languages in 2017.
Photos via Shutterstock
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