So, you've heard a lot of programming languages and you're overwhelmed. You Googled for the best programming language, and a lot of them said it's Python, but deep down you're not convinced cause you don't know what the other languages are all about? If yes, this is the right article for you. I'll explain all the languages that you need to be aware of (I mean you need to know their use case not necessarily need to learn all of them) in 2021.

[1] JavaScript

The best language for software developers. Every tech has it's competitor(s). JavaScript is the exception in terms of web development. JavaScript is the king of web. Used in frontend, backend, cross-platform mobile app development, desktop app development, and recently, machine learning. Pretty sure they'll use it in IoT, blockchain and pretty much everywhere in near future.

[2] Python

Clean, easy-to-learn, simple. Not recommended as your first programming language unless you're planning to dive into Data Science and stay there without tasting other areas.

[3] Java

Millennials say it's dead but the truth is they might not be very good with Java. It's definitely not dead. In fact, 3 billion devices run Java. Primarily used in web backend and Android development.

[4] C-Sharp (I couldn't write the hashtag symbol because Dev Community assumes it's a markdown)

Similar to Java. Heavily related to windows development and backend development. C# is also popular for building video games mainly with Unity engine that is a leader framework in mobile video games (I stole this sentence from Gabriel Hernández from his comment below).

[5] TypeScript

Microsoft took JavaScript and made it more "strict" like Java. The result was named TypeScript.

[6] Dart

Used in Flutter. Probably can be used in other areas too but not popular.

[7] Swift

Used in iOS app development.

[8] Kotlin

Used in Android app development. Developers seem to prefer Kotlin over Java to build Android apps. Plus it's newer than Java.

[9] C/C++

Not used much in development, but still is popular in data structures and algorithms. It can get pretty complicated due to the concept of pointers and memory allocation compared to Java which has automatic memory management (thanks to its garbage collection feature).

[10] PHP

Has a lot of haters, but it's a pretty good language. Used primarily in web development.

[11] Go

A pretty new language. Slowly replacing Java and C# as enterprise language. Used in backend development.

[12] Ruby

Not very new but has a great fan base. The Ruby framework, Ruby on Rails sounds pretty fancy. Used in web development.