How Many Programming Languages Do You Need to Know to Get a Job in the IT Industry?
As technology continues to advance, it becomes increasingly important for IT professionals to be able to learn new computer-based skills rapidly. Mastering the essential programming languages is a particularly important first step for anyone aspiring to succeed in the modern IT industry. The trouble is that there are so many programming languages out there, and each one has its particular quirks, uses, and learning process.
With that being the case, what can IT professionals do to make sure that they’re learning the programming languages that will be most valuable to employers?
Focusing Your Attention On the Most Important Programming Languages
It’s estimated that there are currently somewhere around 700 individual programming languages that are in use today. No one – not even the most disciplined and gifted among us – can hope to learn 700 different programming languages. And there wouldn’t be much of a point in such a pursuit, anyway. Today, only a handful of those languages are widely regarded as being essential to the modern programmer’s toolkit.
Here are the top six major programming languages that you should be aware of. You don’t necessarily need to master each of these, but you should definitely at least know the basics about how they operate – more on that below:
- Python
- Java
- Javascript
- C#
- PHP
- C/C++
The Right Programming Languages for the Right Position
Now that we’ve narrowed our list of programming languages down to the big six, we have to ask ourselves: is it necessary for us to master each one of those to score a high-paying job in the IT industry?
The short answer is: usually not, and it depends entirely on where you work and what kind of programming you’re going to be doing. If you’re aspiring to work for a big, well-established company like Google or Amazon, it’s usually sufficient to master a single mainstream programming language. If, on the other hand, you have your sights set on a startup, it’s generally beneficial to have multiple programming languages under your belt. Small companies’ needs and goals tend to shift suddenly, which means there’s a higher value placed on versatility than there is on mastery of a single skill.
The bottom line is that no two employers are quite the same, and every IT position has unique demands. In other words, you should always conduct a bit of preliminary research into which programming languages are required within a particular company and for a specific position.
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