C# Named TIOBE’s 2023 Programming Language of the Year and Key Trends in the Latest TIOBE Index

At the start of 2024, TIOBE released its January ranking, showing that C# has been awarded the 2023 Programming Language of the Year for the first time, confirming a bold prediction made a month earlier.

According to TIOBE CEO Paul Jansen, C# has risen from a steady Top‑10 position to overtake Python, C, C++ and Java in growth (+1.43%) and is now the fastest‑gaining language of the year.

The report notes that Java’s market share fell by 4.34% between January 2023 and January 2024, dropping to its lowest position since the index began in 2001, partly due to recent changes in Oracle’s subscription‑based pricing model that charge companies based on total employee count.

In contrast, C# has remained free and open‑source since 2014, with strong integration into Microsoft tools such as Visual Studio and the .NET ecosystem, high Windows adoption (79% of C# developers use Windows, 99% of .NET projects use C#), static typing, modern language features introduced in C# 12, and cross‑platform support via .NET Core and .NET 8.

Other notable movements in the index include Kotlin and Fortran entering the Top 20, while COBOL, despite its age, remains critical for legacy banking and unemployment systems, handling up to $3 trillion in daily transactions.

Looking ahead, TIOBE’s CEO predicts that C# may soon surpass Java, while languages such as Julia, Dart (with Flutter) and TypeScript are expected to vie for future Top‑20 spots.

The article also provides historical charts of the Top 10 languages (2002‑2024), the full Top 21‑50 list, and a “language celebrity” ranking from 2003‑2023.