Trends Of Commonly Used Programming Languages in CS1 And CS2 Learning

Abstract

Computer science educators have tried to identify the best language for their first-year college students to use when learning how to program. Consequently, selecting a computer programming language for use in an introductory programming course has been a hot-button topic within computing education communities. This paper builds on the work started by Richard Reid in the early 1990s, which surveys institutions providing post-secondary education. It provides educators with up-to-date information about common choices for computer programming languages used in first computer programming courses. This year’s survey results indicate clearly that, at the moment, Java and Python are the most commonly used languages. A new element in the survey is that we have now started collecting data regarding the second programming course (CS2). Our findings show that 88% of all surveyed schools only use one of four languages (Java, Python, C++, and C), with the adoption of Python growing steadily at the expense of the other languages. Java continues to be the most popular choice for CS2 courses, followed by C++ after a significant gap. However, we are finding potential trends where institutions that start in Java or C++ tend to stay with their choice, while schools starting with other languages are likely to transition their students over to a second programming language in CS2.