Programming Language Migration 2025: Why Developers Switch

JetBrains’ 2025 State of Developer Ecosystem survey, based on 8,837 responses, examines actual changes in developers’ main programming languages over the previous year rather than relying on stated migration plans. Project requirements remain the leading reason for language switches, although motivations vary: Kotlin attracts developers primarily through its modern features and improved development experience, Go through performance and scalability, Python through its ecosystem, and C# and C++ largely through project needs. C showed unexpectedly low retention, with roughly half of its former main-language users moving elsewhere, often citing a desire to learn newer languages or gain modern features. Python is the most common destination for switchers from most languages, while Java developers most often move toward Python and TypeScript, Kotlin gains mainly from Java, and TypeScript and PHP draw heavily from JavaScript. The findings also identify a skills progression from HTML/CSS to JavaScript and then TypeScript, with JavaScript both gaining and losing developers for job-market reasons, and suggest that TypeScript, Rust, Python, and Go retain substantial growth potential.

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