Web has evolved from the static interlinked pages to what we are seeing today – dynamic, interactive, very much alive. Thanks to those web programming languages, with out which this evolution of web would not be possible. When I say web programming languages, I am referring those languages which are run at the server side. These programs generate the content dynamically and sends it back to the web browser. There are so many programming languages out there to program the web, but which one is alive and kicking? Let’s compare them and see which one is popular than others.
The Super 3 web languages:
According to the TIOBE Programming Index, Java, PHP and Python are the leading server side programming languages, with Java leading from the front. Off course Java’s “write-once-run-anywhere” philosophy made it to the world’s top programming language. Originally written to be used in a set-top box, now Java drives the most critical enterprise web applications. No wonder it’s one of the official languages used inside Google!
Next to Java is PHP (Personal Home Page – a very opt name!), a widely used scripting language for producing dynamic web pages. With the programming market share of 8% and a loyal group of developers following, PHP must be the most popular language in blogging world. The text you are reading now is processed and served by PHP. Wordpress, word’s most popular publishing platform runs on PHP and this blog runs on Wordpress. Java is also catching up with nWordPress – a Java counterpart of WordPress!
PHP is followed by Python – another official language used inside Google. Frankly, I don’t know much about this language, but with the growing popularity of Python, soon this will be a must-to-know for me. With the market share of 5%, Python shares the podium with the other two languages.
What does the market say?
What’s the current market demand for our Super 3 web languages? Which language has the highest availability of jobs than others? According to Odinjobs, a job and market analysis site, Java’s the winner here. With more than 40K jobs, Java stands well above PHP and Python. Check out the below chart which illustrates this.
But if we compare the average salary given to the developers, it reveals another interesting point. Even though Python lacks in number of available jobs, it is closely competing with Java in the salary.
Note:Market statistics are generated for the period July 2006 – June 2007, date is from Odinjobs.
So what’s the point? Small is better or there are too many java developers out there? Whatever it is, Java is clearly leading in web programming world and I am happy about that!
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Its a shame the price of a PHP programmer is so much lower than their Java and Python counterparts. Is this because the market is saturated with them? Because PHP isn’t taken seriously as an enterprise language?
Hi Brian,
I think the second point you mentioned (PHP isn’t taken seriously as an enterprise language.) is must be the reason for the low pay of PHP programmers.
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