China tops list of best countries for computer programming
US doesn't make the list, according to coding careers company HackerRank
This week the California-based company HackerRank published a study showing which countries have the best developers.
HackerRank is a free coding practice website that allows developers to hone their coding skills by solving challenges. Based on the speed and accuracy with which people finish the challenges, HackerRank has ranked 1.5 million developers.
This study ranked which countries were best overall, which types of challenges were most popular, which countries dominated in each type of challenge, and which languages each country preferred.
While the United States and India have the most participants on the site, both countries put up disappointing numbers overall. The US came in at 28th, while India was a few behind at 31st.
So who's in the top 10, and why?
#10: Italy
This country is specifically impressive when it comes to HackerRank's database and tutorial challenges, ranking second in both those areas. It looks like HackerRank is not the only one that thinks highly of Italy. Apple announced a new school for 600 programmers at The University of Napoli Federico II on the coast of Italy.
#9: Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is dominant in shell scripting challenges. They also rank second in mathematics challenges on HackerRank. These skills lands the country at the number 9 spot on the list of best programmers.
#8: France
According to the HackerRank study, French programmers dominate C++ challenges. One reason: France began offering programming classes in elementary schools in June 2014.
#7: Taiwan
Taiwan comes in at number 7, scoring high in database, functional programming, algorithm and data structure challenges. Python is the dominant language, the survey found.
#6: Japan
Japan is the best country in the world at HackerRank's artificial intelligence challenges. This comes as no surprise as Japan is making great strides in AI — early this summer, the University of Tokyo was reportedly able to save a woman's life using AI to diagnose her cancer, for instance.
#5: Hungary
Hungary comes in at an impressive number 5 spot in the rankings, and tops the world in performance on tutorial challenges. Hungary was one of the first European countries to adopt computer programming classes into their education system, in both primary and secondary schools.
#4: Switzerland
Of the 15 top types of challenges on HackerRank, Switzerland scores in the top five in nine of them, making it one of the most dominant countries across the board. Switzerland was also the birthplace of Pascal, one of the first computer programming languages. In addition, Switzerland was also ranked number 1 in the Global Innovation Index's 2016 report.
#3: Poland
Poland wins in Java challenges on the site, particularly impressive as java is the preferred language amongst most of HackerRank's users. Like many of the other countries on this list, Poland also offers coding classes in their schools.
#2: Russia
With so much on the news about Russian hackers, this country's strong performance in HackerRank's challenges probably doesn't come as a surprise. Russia is the most dominant country when it comes to algorithms, which is the most popular type of challenge on the site.
#1: China
Just barely edging out Russia, China came in at number 1 for the best performing computer programmers on HackerRank overall. When it comes to specific types of challenges, China is the best performing country in data structure, mathematics, and functional programming.
