Is SQL Losing Its Edge? Exploring the Rise of NoSQL and Programming Language Trends

The TIOBE June 2025 programming language ranking has been released, with the headline question "Where is SQL going?".

SQL, short for Structured Query Language, is the language used to communicate with databases.

Recently, SQL's popularity has declined, dropping to 12th place this month, its lowest ever position.

Historically, SQL peaked at 6th place in October 2003. In early 2004, some argued that "SQL is not a programming language," leading TIOBE to remove it from the list, which explains the data gap from 2004 to 2018. In 2018, developers demonstrated that SQL is Turing‑complete, prompting its reinstatement and a return to the top ten.

Everyday interactions on the internet rely on SQL: banking transactions, e‑commerce order management, hospital records, flight and ticketing systems, student information, course selection, grade management, and teacher scheduling—all depend on relational tables that SQL manipulates.

Common SQL Databases

SQL remains the core language of the database world and will continue to serve as a universal language for many years.

However, in the AI wave, SQL seems to lag behind.

AI workloads often involve unstructured data, where NoSQL shines. NoSQL databases typically use JSON, XML, and other flexible formats, making them better suited for rapidly changing requirements and posing a substantive threat to the more rigid SQL.

What Is NoSQL?

NoSQL (Not Only SQL) refers to a class of non‑relational databases designed for handling:

Massive data (Big Data)

Unstructured or semi‑structured data (e.g., JSON, XML, graph data)

High‑concurrency read/write scenarios

Flexible data models and high scalability

NoSQL does not follow traditional table structures, relationships, or SQL syntax, and is commonly used in internet services, real‑time recommendation, logging, IoT, and big‑data applications.

Typical NoSQL database types include key‑value stores, document stores, column‑family stores, and graph databases.

In the same TIOBE report, Python continues to dominate with a 25.87% share, followed by C++, C, Java, C#, JavaScript, Go, Visual Basic, Delphi/Object Pascal, and Fortran in the top ten.

While Python leads, the report notes that the gap between Python and the second‑place language C++ exceeds 15%, highlighting Python's strong position.

The ranking also provides historical curves of programming language popularity from 1988 to 2025, illustrating long‑term trends.