Resig admits JavaScript, as a language, has its warts and issues, but so do all languages. And since young programmers to be must start somewhere, Khan Academy decided JavaScript is where to start.

The popular Python programming language was tops among developers recommending which was the best programming language for beginners, beating out JavaScript and C.

JavaScript remains the most used programming language among developers, but Python is the most studied – and Go the one that most coders want to switch to.

According to the survey, JavaScript, Java, Python, C++ and C are the best-known programming languages, while Clojure, F# and OCaml propped up the list.

GitHub's annual Octoverse report reveals the top 10 most popular programming languages in the world.

When it comes to language popularity, C takes the top spot, based on an assessment that looks at search engines. But another survey, examining code repositories in GitHub, has JavaScript in the lead.

The language has risen in popularity over the last two years, moving from seventh to fifth place on GitHub's list, as C#'s large community of developers continue to add to its capabilities.