10 fastest growing skills for UK developers 2017 | Most in-demand skills for developers

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Developers skilled in AngularJS are in most demand by employers according to research from Stack Overflow, an online community for programmers.

For developers, keeping on trend with changing and growing skills will mean they are increasingly attractive to potential employees, can demand a higher salary and even demand better work benefits.

But finding a skill that is popular now, is likely to grow, and won't be redundant in a few years is extremely important. To help, we list the top skills for UK developers.

Read on to see the top 10 most in-demand skills for UK developers.

Read next: Five open source skills you'll need in 2017

1. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: AngularJS

Coming in at number one, AngularJS is an open-source front-end web application framework, based on Java.

AngularJS is a JavaScript MVC structural framework for dynamic web apps that lets developers customise HTML syntax.

AngularJS is developed by its community, Google, and other corporations and is mostly used for cross-platform mobile app development with one of its objectives being to provide a framework for building an application including designing, writing the business logic and testing.

2. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Java

General-purpose __computer programming language Java was established in 1995 and continues to be one of the top skills UK employees look for.

This object-oriented programming (OOP) language is most commonly used by application developers as it can run on all Java-supported infrastructures, promoting a cross-platform 'write once, run anywhere' ethos.

The latest version of Java, Java 8, is currently supported by Oracle, which inherited Java after its 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

3. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Python

Like Java, Python is a general-purpose programming language, although it is also a 'high-level programming language', which means that it can use natural language elements and can be used to automate parts of the programming process.

First released in 1991, Python is commonly used for web programming and desktop application programming, but it can also be used for game and network programming.

Python is often considered an excellent entry programming language, ideal for beginners.

4. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing suite that operates across 16 geographical regions across the globe. And as increasing numbers of businesses continue to use AWS's public cloud, the demand for AWS-skilled engineers, architects and developers is only set to rise. In fact, it's one of the fastest-growing skill sets for developers in the UK.

AWS provides online and classroom-based training, so it's becoming more accessible too.

5. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Node.Js

Built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime, Node.Js is an open source cross-platform environment that can be used to create scalable network applications relatively quickly due to its lightweight nature.

Initially released in March 2009, Node.Js is ideal for real-time applications that rely on mass data as it offers a non-blocking I/O model.

Node.Js is written in C, C++ and JavaScript and is used by some of the largest tech firms in the world including IBM, Mirosoft, PayPAl, SAP, Cisco and Netflix.

6. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: ReactJS

Developed by Facebook engineers and initially released in March 2013, ReactJS is a JavaScript library designed for building user interfaces.

ReactJS allows users to 'refresh' an application and only updates the changed parts rather the whole build.

Made open source in May 2013, ReactJS is used on websites including Netflix, Airbnb and Feedly.

7. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Swift

Swift 3 is the latest release from Apple, offering a programming language specifically for MacOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS.

The latest version is called Swift 3 and is the first update since June 2016, when Apple announced it would be going open source at WWDC.

Apple designed Swift 3 'explicitly to get the fastest and most efficient performance from devices' according to Macworld UK.

In addition, Apple recently added Playground support, which means that developers can download a snapshot of Swift in Xcode and test it out rather than having to restart Xcode.

8. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Docker

Docker containers provide a 'complete filesystem' that has everything required to run: system libraries, code, runtime and system tools, meaning software should run in the same way regardless of its environment.

These containers can run within public clouds, private clouds and on-premise infrastructure.

9. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Devops

Devops refers to the combination of the development and operations teams, bringing them together to promote agile working, quick development cycles, and the ability to respond quickly.

It's not a programming language like some of the other entries, but rather a suite of skills - requiring soft-skills like communication as well as an understanding of automated processes.

See also: What is devops?

10. Fastest growing skills for UK developers: Go

Commonly referred to as golang, Go language is an open source programming language created by Google in 2007.

Used by companies including Dropbox and Google, Go is compatible with anything using C++ and offers fast compilation, plus an efficient garbage collector (automatic memory management).

Go 1.8 was released in February 2017 offering a greater focus on compilation, garbage collection, and HTTP support.