Right next to my desk in a bookshelf is my 1988 copy of Kernighan and Ritchie’s the second edition of The C Programming Language. I’ve kept this book, the ur-text of C programming, because C has always been the first language of Unix and Linux and I like to be able to read source code. I knew that, over the years, C had declined in use. What I didn’t know was that, old as it is, C has actually maintained more of its popularity than I had thought and that now it’s once more the number one programming language in the world.
In a survey of programming language use by TIOBE Software, an analysis company focusing on software quality, they found that “After more than 4 years C is back at position number 1 in the TIOBE index.” It’s not, however, that C has suddenly gained new developers. No, “The scores for C have been pretty constant through the years, varying between the 15% and 20% market share for almost 10 years.” The real reason C’s is back on top is because Java use has been declining.
Still, as the company observed, while “Java has a long-term downward trend. It is losing ground to other languages running on the JVM. An example of such a language is JavaFX script that is now approaching the top 20.
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1 What's the most promising development language for SUSE Linux? - Page 3 - openSUSE Forums // Apr 7, 2010 at 4:55 pm
[...] Re: What's the most promising development language for SUSE Linux? This is an interesting chart showing usage of various languages: April Headline: C programming language back at number 1 position! "So the main reason for C's number 1 position is not C's uprise, but the decline of its competitor Java. Java has a long-term downward trend." * original reference [...]
2 C is number one! | TechBlogs Today // Apr 8, 2010 at 3:10 am
[...] Read more at source Filed under Linux & OS News Tags: Bookshelf, C Programming, c programming language, copy, desk, first language, kernighan, language, Read, Ritchie, source, unix and linux, ur text ← Google Maps Updated to v4.0.1 – Now Includes Buzz Layer Druva Raises $5 Million From Sequoia And IAN For Data Protection Software → [...]