What are the most in-demand programming languages of 2016?

By Alice Murray

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As the IT industry booms and developers become more and more common, we are often faced with new programming languages.Of course each individual programmer will have a favourite, but it’s hard to focus solely on one when there is such a vast variety to discover.

Here at KnowNetwork, we’ve compiled a list of the crème de la crème of programming languages for developers.


You don’t have to work within any IT or technology company to have heard of Java. It’s an internationally renowned name that celebrated its 20th anniversary this year – so it can certainly be regarded to as the VIP of programming. It is used by no less than 9 million developers, and is currently running on 7 billion devices worldwide. It’s even used to power companies like LinkedIn, Amazon and Netflix – so we’re all very thankful to Java for supplying us with the ability to watch back to back box sets for days on end.

Java topped the 'most in-demand' list in 2016, and if you're a Java developer, you can expect to earn anything from £450 per day as a contractor.
If you're interested in Java jobs - take a look at our contract search list for IT developers here.


It’s almost like this one was invented just to confuse us into not knowing the difference between them and Java. But alas, JavaScript (emphasis on the ‘Script’) is a completely separate language. JavaScript is used to spice up bland web pages by making them more interactive. It’s the central scripted language for the whole of the World Wide Web and is built into the majority of web browsers; so it’s a pretty big deal.

Closely following Java, JavaScript placed 2nd for 'most in-demand' language this year. As a JavaScript developer, you will most likely be on a day rate of around £375-£400 per-day.

If you're interested in front end roles, you can find them on KnowNetwork here.


Despite what your initial reaction might be, C# is not just a musical chord. It is in fact one of the older but more popular programming languages, designed in 2000 by Microsoft. It is a further evolution of the already existing languages C and C++, but is arguably simpler, safer and is used for a wide range of enterprise applications.

C# is currently the third 'most in-demand' programmer language, and if you work as a C# developer, you'll likely be earning an average of £350 per-day.

If you're interested in C# developer roles, you can find them on KnowNetwork here.


The main thing that makes this one a winner in most people’s eyes is the fact that the creators named it after the smash-hit comedy show ‘Monty Python’ – but for developers there is slightly more important factors than that in regards to using this language. Python is a general purpose programming language that closely resembles the English language and is therefore one of the easier ones to learn. Eight out of the top ten computer science schools use this method to teach coding; so what does that tell you?

C++ is in line just before Python, meaning that this is the 5th 'most in-demand' language of 2016 - but this doesn't reflect in your daily salary; because as a Python developer you can expect around £450 per-day.

If you're interested in Python jobs - take a look at our contract search list for IT developers here.


Swift is a fairly influential language; considering it was created by technology gurus, Apple. In 2014, Apple decided that they didn’t want to fall under the bracket of other languages anymore so they invented an entirely new one for IOS. Swift is used to create various apps for their devices which most of us likely own - so without it we’d probably all be lost.
Swift falls a few places to the 9th 'most in-demand' language of the year; but much like Python, their day-rate makes up for this.

If you work as an Apple IOS developer, you will be earning anything from £455 per-day.If you're interested in Apple Swift jobs - take a look at our contract search list for IT developers here.


Perhaps not the most appealing name; but this didn’t put anyone off voting it as the winner of ‘Most Loved Programming Language’ in 2016. Yes, that is an actual award - and considering the hugely wide choice that the voters had, it’s a very valuable credit to be given! Rust is sponsored by Mozilla research, and is now used by Firefox which is of course used by millions worldwide. Not too shabby for a language that resembles a decaying metal.

Rust didn't even crack the top 10 for the 'most in-demand' language, but as it has been voted as 'most loved', it isn't too much of a burden to bear.

If you're interested in Rust jobs - take a look at our contract search list for IT developers here.


Gaining popularity since its inception in 2011, Dart offers a fresh new alternative to JavaScript for browser apps. It’s a language that takes pride in its high-performance implementations and is well-suited to app developers. It is one of the most up and coming languages, and is used by a lot of Google and Adobe programmes – so it’ll undoubtedly become even more prevalent in the programming language hall of fame soon enough.

As a developer with Dart programmes, you can earn anything between £350 per-day to £600 per-day, so there's lots of room to grow with this language.


Regardless of which one you choose, it isn’t an easy task to learn them; and with everyone having their own preferences and abilities, there is always room for more variations of programmer languages.

If you would like any advice or tips on programmer languages, your KnowNetwork concierge has your back, and you can contact them whenever you like.

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