Debate over the most popular programming language can become a passionate battle, something like between Manchester United and Liverpool. But does it really matter, as long as programmers being able to get the job done on time and within budget? Football fans (stakeholders) no matter which camp you are from, would be just as satisfied after being presented a high quality match (software project).

Still, it is fun for football fans to check out the league table ranking every end of the season, whether they earn the bragging rights against their rivals. Thanks to TIOBE, we have a programming language "league table" as well. Bear in mind that, the ranking is not about the best, but the most popular programming language based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors.


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Note: ASP and ASP.NET are not considered by TIOBE as programming languages because they make use of other languages such as JavaScript and VBScript or .NET compatible languages. The same is true for frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, and technologies such as AJAX.

Most Popular Programming Languages in Malaysia?

While TIOBE presents a global ranking, let's find out in which programming language Malaysians invoke most among the SOS calls to Google.



This is by no means conclusive by taking into considerations that the search keywords might include phrases like java games or even vitamin c. However, this is still an useful benchmark on what programming language is the most popular among Malaysians.

1. Java
2. PHP
3. C
4. Javascript
5. Visual Basic

A few observations from Google Insights for Search:

- PHP interest is high relatively in Malaysia and ahead of C most of the time, but has been swapping position with C since mid 2007.
- Overall searches on all programming language are dropping consistently from 2004. Is it because of the emergence of language-specific resource and self-help sites?
- Penang has the most programmers among all states in Malaysia?

Most Job Opportunities for Java Programmer in Malaysia

If you are a Computer Science graduate or programmer, you might be wondering which programming language skill has the highest chance to secure yourself a job right? Head over the Malaysia's leading job recruitment portal - JobStreet.com, and perform a quick search like below:



You will get total number of jobs available which requires you to be equipped with respective programming language, therefore another useful perspective to weigh the most popular programming language in Malaysia.

1. Java (184 jobs at the time of writing)
2. C (145)
3. ASP / ASP.NET (127)
4. PHP (78)
5. Javascript (64)
6. Visual Basic (43)

Again, Java tops the list but C and ASP.NET programmer has higher demand than PHP's at the moment. So there you go Java programmers, you have just earned your bragging rights!