TIOBE index

TIOBE Software measures programming languages indexes with respect to their popularity among developers. The latest rankings are available here.

This month Java is the leader and has been maintaining its position since February last year, closely followed by C, which also maintains its position. The next three positions are held by C#, C++ and Objective-C. This is an interesting ranking and specially, it is good to know where the demand is going when starting to learn a new programming language. Compared to last year, C#, which I favor over Java simply because I spend most of my time developing for the Windows platform, jumped three positions and it now holds 3rd place, even though at significant distance from positions 1 and 2 (about 8 percent). I do not expect C# to be #1 any time soon, specially since it is not (natively) portable to Unix-like systems, and of course C is a natural leader, even though complex, no serious developer should lack knowledge of C.

Regarding the leader, Java, I remember I liked it a low while in college and after that and I still develop some pieces of code using it and I think it is all right, but when it comes to Windows desktop programming and developing software that has a user interface, I don't see it as a rival for C# right now. Well, this is a kind of debate that would not end if put on a forum or discussion group and of course, everyone would be right, since the best programming language is the one that you have used the most and feel most confortable using, no doubt about it. Enjoy coding!