09 February 2011, 14:50

TIOBE Index: Python more popular than PHP

Python has surpassed PHP in popularity while C# is coming on strongly. At least according to TIOBE, the coding standards specialists, which has published its Programming Community Index for February 2011. Compared to last years index the top two most popular languages remain Java followed by C while C++ has risen from fourth position to third. Python is on the rise from seventh position last year to fourth position this year, while PHP, which was third, has fallen to fifth position in the rankings. This movement is reflected in the popularity share; Python has gained being 2.72% up on last year, while PHP is 3.03% down over the same period. C#, now ranked sixth, gained 1.79% on last year.

The TIOBE index draws on data gathered from designated developers and providers of software products through the search engines of Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, and new addition – Baidu. Yahoo! has also been reinstated as a source of data. TIOBE says that effect of the inclusion of Baidu and Yahoo! may already be apparent as JavaScript is now back in the index's top ten.

February 2011 ranking	February 2010 ranking	Language	2011 share in %	Difference from 2010 in %
1	1	Java	18.48	+1.13
2	2	C	14.99	-1.62
3	4	C++	8.19	-1.26
4	7	Python	7.04	+2.72
5	3	PHP	6.97	-3.03
6	6	C#	6.81	+1.79
7	5	(Visual) Basic	4.92	-2.13
8	12	Objective-C	2.57	+0.79
9	10	JavaScript	2.56	-0.08
10	8	Perl	1.91	-1.69