TIOBE or not TIOBE, that is the question
Java is no longer among the top three most popular programming languages in the TIOBE Index, one of several not particularly definitive yardsticks by which such things are measured.
According to Paul Jansen, CEO of Netherlands-based TIOBE Software, the rising popularity of C++ has pushed Java down a notch. The index’s rankings are now: Python in first place, C second, C++ third, and Java fourth. C++ stepped up to third, and Java fell to fourth.
“C++ surpassed Java for the first time in the history of the TIOBE Index, which means that Java is at position 4 now,” said Jansen in the December update for the TIOBE Index. “This is the first time that Java is not part of the top 3 since the beginning of the TIOBE Index in 2001.”
The surge in C++, perhaps in part helped by the stable release of C++ 20 in December 2020, is particularly ironic in light of the language’s recent dismissal by Microsoft CTO Mark Russinovich, which coincides with industry evangelism for Rust and its capacity for memory safety.
Popularity in this case is measured by queries related to programming languages that have been aggregated from 25 different search engines.
