The TIOBE Index has been updated for the month of November and it has ranked Python as the second most popular programming language overtaking Java. C has held onto its first-place position and even saw a slight increase in its popularity compared to last month.
Peter Jansen, the CEO of TIOBE Software which runs the TIOBE Index, said that for the first time in nearly 20 years, C and Java don’t make up the top two positions. Jansen said that people put Python’s popularity down to “booming” fields such as data mining, AI and numerical computing but Jansen feels as though Python’s popularity is more to do with general demand.
Explaining the situation a bit more, he said:
“I believe that Python's popularity has to do with general demand. In the past, most programming activities were performed by software engineers. But programming skills are needed everywhere nowadays and there is a lack of good software developers. As a consequence, we need something simple that can be handled by non-software engineers, something easy to learn with fast edit cycles and smooth deployment. Python meets all these needs.”
The TIOBE Index is useful for those wanting to know whether their programming skills are up to date, it can also help you decide which programming languages to use when beginning a new project. Ratings are updated once a month and are based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses and third-party vendors as well as search engine results.
It’s not clear yet whether Python will replace C as the number one language but since the end of 2017 it has been sharply increasing in popularity, C, on the other hand, is in a slow decline.
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