Short Bytes: Programming languages like Java, C, and C++ have stood the test of time and remained widely popular among the programmers. The recent ranking of programming languages shows the same trend. Newer players like Google’s Go and Apple’s Swift too are rising in the popularity.
Programmers use different kinds of programming languages to fulfill their needs. Due to a rise in the popularity of a particular technology, some programming languages are also boosted. A spike in the popularity is also seen when a versatile language is able to fulfill many needs.
In the recent times, we have seen the advent of many open source language from tech giants, including the likes of Go and Swift. Before discussing them, I would like to tell you that some of the top players have managed to maintain their position in the recent Tiobe programming languages index.
If we compare the October 2016 ranking with the one from October 2015, there’s no change in the top five position. Java, C, C++, C#, and Python, the programming language giants, continue to rule the list. However, a noticeable change is the giant 6.35% dip in C’s popularity.
Going further, JavaScript has managed to gain two positions and land on the sixth place. It’s followed by PHP, Visual Basic .NET, Perl, and Objective-C.
Top 20 programming languages
| Oct 2016 | Oct 2015 | Change | Programming Language | Ratings | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Java | 18.799% | -0.74% | |
| 2 | 2 | C | 9.835% | -6.35% | |
| 3 | 3 | C++ | 5.797% | +0.05% | |
| 4 | 4 | C# | 4.367% | -0.46% | |
| 5 | 5 | Python | 3.775% | -0.74% | |
| 6 | 8 |
|
JavaScript | 2.751% | +0.46% |
| 7 | 6 |
|
PHP | 2.741% | +0.18% |
| 8 | 7 |
|
Visual Basic .NET | 2.660% | +0.20% |
| 9 | 9 | Perl | 2.495% | +0.25% | |
| 10 | 14 |
|
Objective-C | 2.263% | +0.84% |
| 11 | 12 |
|
Assembly language | 2.232% | +0.66% |
| 12 | 15 |
|
Swift | 2.004% | +0.73% |
| 13 | 10 |
|
Ruby | 2.001% | +0.18% |
| 14 | 13 |
|
Visual Basic | 1.987% | +0.47% |
| 15 | 11 |
|
Delphi/Object Pascal | 1.875% | +0.24% |
| 16 | 65 |
|
Go | 1.809% | +1.67% |
| 17 | 32 |
|
Groovy | 1.769% | +1.19% |
| 18 | 20 |
|
R | 1.741% | +0.75% |
| 19 | 17 |
|
MATLAB | 1.619% | +0.46% |
| 20 | 18 |
|
PL/SQL | 1.531% | +0.46% |
Source: Tiobe Index
Biggest winners — Go, Groovy, Objective-C, Swift
Tiobe index suggests that Google Go is enjoying an unrivaled boost in the popularity, probably due to a boost in the increasing application of Docker, the container that’s written in Go. Compared to last year’s 65th position, it has managed to land on 16th position.
The other impressive performers are Groovy, Objective-C (that’s interesting), and Swift.
Which programming languages do you use? Tell us your views in the comments below.
