Python scales language popularity charts

Python continues to build momentum, approaching the Top 3 in the Tiobe language popularity index after having already scaled to the top of language ratings from IEEE and PyPL.

Python, which has become a popular option in data science and machine learning, is creeping up on third-place C++ in Tiobe’s index, which bases popularity on a formula assessing searches in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia. In this month’s index, Python is in fourth place with a rating of 6.992 percent, less than a half of a percentage point behind C++, rated at 7.471 percent. (In July, the gap between the two was 1.254 points.)

If Python can surpass C++, it would be the language’s first foray into the Tiobe Top 3. Tiobe not only expects this to happen but believes Python might even ascend to the index’s No. 1 spot, which has been occupied by Java for most of the past several years.

Tiobe’s August rankings were as follows:

1. Java, with a rating of 16.881 percent
2. C, at 14.966 percent
3. C++, at 7.471 percent
4. Python, at 6.992 percent
5. Visual Basic.Net, at 4.762 percent
6. C#, at 3.541 percent
7. PHP, at 2.925 percent
8. JavaScript, at 2.411 percent
9. SQL, at 2.316 percent
10. Assembly, at 1.409 percent

The most-recent PyPL and IEEE indexes were ruled by Python. PyPL assesses popularity based on searches on language tutorials in Google while IEEE looks at contexts such as social chatter, open source code production, and job postings. IEEE rankings for 2018, published on July 31, were as follows:

1. Python
2. C++
3. C
4. Java
5. C#
6. PHP
7. R
8. JavaScript
9. Go
10. Assembly

PyPL’s top 10 for July were:

1. Python, with a 23.59 percent share
2. Java, at 22.4 percent
3. JavaScript, at 8.49 percent
4. PHP, at 7.93 percent
5. C#, at 7.84 percent
6. C/C++, at 6.28 percent
7. R, at (4.18 percent
8. Objective-C, at 3.4 percent
9. Swift, at 2.65 percent
10. Matlab, at 2.25 percent