Having the zeal to stand out as a winner in competitive programming? Thousands of IT Job aspirants & programming enthusiasts are competing with cutting-edge programming skills. Are you having the right strategy to race up with them in competitive programming? This blog will help you choose the best programming languages for competitive programming & your winning. 

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Top 5 languages for Competitive Programming

If you’re still not sure of where to start competitive programming, then get to know how to get started for competitive programming? Here, our programming experts have curated the top 5 programming languages that are widely used by a huge number of programmers around the world. 

• Python
• C++
• JavaScript
• Java
• Golang

Before moving forward, ensure you’re comfortable with basic data structures and algorithms concepts. Join GUVI’s Data Structures & Algorithms Career Program for simplified & effective learning. Through this program, you’ll learn fundamental concepts and practical applications to tackle coding challenges confidently. Enroll now to enhance your problem-solving skills and ace technical interviews with top companies.

1. Python

Python can be the first preference for beginners while looking to learn languages for competitive programming. This is due to the fact that Python is an easy-to-learn programming language with simple syntax & extensive library. Further, provides great functional support. This means Python supports higher-order functions & lazy evaluation features. 

The range method of Python follows the concept of Lazy Evaluation that optimizes your code. A lot of execution time is saved for more extensive ranges and It doesn’t require all the values at a time, so it saves memory consumption as well. Which is much more compatible for programmers. Python stands among top languages for competitive programming in terms of efficiency & code optimization.

Speaking of wide usage, Python is heavily used in various trending fields like Data Science, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence.

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2. C++

The Standard Template Library in C++ easily enables programmers to do efficient & effective programming. This is a rich library with template classes that offers various data structures such as arrays, lists, stacks, trees, graphs, etc.

Further, competitive programming challenges include real-time problems while C++ effortlessly supports solving through OOPS (Object-Oriented Programming) features. All of these reduce your code’s execution time, making it one of the fastest programming languages.

3. JavaScript

JavaScript is majorly used in front-end development. In the modern world full of interactive apps, JavaScript plays a key role in developing the User Interfaces(UI) of apps. These days, with Node.js as a JavaScript runtime, developers use it in functionalities of back-end development too.

Also, the scripting features of this language give comfort for developers to develop diverse desktop applications. Interestingly, JavaScript ranks well as more than 65% of web/app developers worldwide stated that they used JavaScript. Labeling it as the most widely utilized programming language among developers worldwide as of 2022. Therefore, a strong grip on JavaScript will come in handy to solve app-related problem statements in coding challenges.

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4. Java 

Java has the BigInteger class as its rich library to calculate large integers. Also, the Geometry Library takes care of the geometrical problems. Java Programmers are known to perform better exception handling & use Java containers accordingly. 

Furthermore, Java follows the “Write Once, Run Anywhere” concept which simply means that the compiled Java code can be executed on any platform that supports Java, without requiring any recompilation. Thus, Java is one of the popular choices in programming languages for competitive programming.

5. Go 

Goroutines are the recent trendsetters in the competitive programming world. It is a proven fact that applications that are written in Go language are highly performant & scalable. Similar to C++, Golang is a very efficient language. While handling parallelisms like Java, Golang exhibits easy code readability like Python. Concurrently, Go features cleaner syntax, which makes it easier to learn. It is also very fast during the compilation of machine code.

As of 2023, the popularity of the Go language continues to soar, with an estimated 4 million active developers worldwide leveraging its power. Renowned for its efficiency and scalability, Go remains a favorite among tech giants and startups alike. Furthermore,  Big companies, like Uber Medium, Salesforce, Twitter, Netflix, Dropbox, & IBM use Golang. No wonder why there’s a huge demand for Go developers proliferating as these companies are hiring them in droves.

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Final Words

On the whole, you can choose any of the mentioned top 5 programming languages for competitive programming based on their relevance & relatedness to your coding challenge problems. Keep in mind to emphasize more on Data Structures & Algorithms as well.

Plenty of websites and resources are available over the internet to learn data structures & algorithms. But, If you’re looking for 360-degree coverage then Try Free Comprehensive Courses on Data Structures & Algorithms in GUVI. Practice more of the mock coding problems or simply practice on CodeKata. Learn. Practice & Win!

FAQs

Q1. Which programming language should I choose for competitive programming?

Ans. C++ and Java are the best languages for competitive programming. Most competitive programmers participate using C/C++. Java is the second most popular language for competitive programming.

Q2. Is Python or C++ better for competitive programming?

Ans. Competitive coding is all about finding the best fit solution in the least amount of time. Python comes in as the best programming languages for Competitive Programming as it cuts short the time spent writing a code as compared to other conventional languages like Java, C, and C++.

Q3. Which programming language is fastest?

Ans. C++ is considered one of the fastest programming languages for Competitive Programming. Over 90% of the world’s largest supercomputers are written in C++, which showcases its speed and performance capabilities​.