Developers often dispute the merits of SQL as a legitimate programming language, but this misses the point. SQL is a powerful 4GL for accessing data.

While SQL was a serious top 10 player when the index began in 2001, it was taken from the list after someone noted in 2004 that SQL was not a programming language.

The use of SQL to search for data Databases use their own type of programming language. This language is known as structured query language, or SQL.

Maybe it's not the sexiest programming language, but SQL continues to be important--at least according to one measurement.

It found that Python, Java, SQL and JavaScript appeared the most frequently in developer job ads, each appearing in more than 50,000 listings on Indeed. All four saw a significant jump in demand ...

The Ultimate SQL Bootcamp Certification Bundle ($21, store.cnn.com) was created to help you learn SQL, a programming language for managing databases.