Why Python Overtook Java: Key Takeaways from the Latest TIOBE Index

According to the latest TIOBE programming language ranking, Java’s popularity continues to decline this month, while Python has officially claimed the world’s second‑largest language position.

If Python truly surpasses Java, it would represent the most significant change in the TIOBE index since its inception, as Java has occupied one of the top two spots continuously since 2001.

TIOBE CEO Paul Jansen noted that for the past 20 years C and Java have dominated the top two positions, but Java’s adoption rate is now near a historic low, dropping 4.32 percentage points compared with October 2019. In September, Jansen warned that “Java is definitely in trouble,” citing a 3.81‑point month‑on‑month decline.

Created in 1991, Python’s popularity is rising steadily, driven by widespread use among data scientists and growing interest in machine learning.

TIOBE Index Methodology

The TIOBE Programming Community Index ranks languages based on the number of hits for specific language queries across 25 search engines, including Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, and Baidu.

Other rankings such as IEEE Spectrum, RedMonk, GitHub, and StackOverflow use different algorithms, so their results may vary.

Recent Comparative Data

In October 2020, the TIOBE ranking shifted similarly to RedMonk’s results, which places JavaScript first, Python second, and Java third.

According to the current TIOBE data, Java’s score is 12.56 % and Python’s is 11.28 %, a gap of 1.3 %.

RedMonk analyst Stephen O’Grady acknowledges Java’s continued importance but notes that its dominance is being challenged as developers explore other languages.

Top‑10 and Top‑20 Changes

Within the top ten, only Java and Python have swapped positions; the remaining rankings are unchanged. Among positions 11–20, notable declines include Perl (11→12), Ruby (13→15), MATLAB (15→17), and Objective‑C (18→19). Rises include Groovy (12→11), Go (14→13), Swift (16→14), and Assembly language (17→16).

Delphi/Object Pascal and Transact‑SQL moved up into the top‑20 (to 18 and 20 respectively), while Classic Visual Basic and PL/SQL fell out of the top‑20.

Rust, which had been in the top‑20 for four months, dropped from 18th to 25th and remains at 25th.

Visual Data

TOP 10 Programming Language TIOBE Index Trend (2002‑2020)

Rankings for positions 21‑50

Positions 51‑100 (listed alphabetically due to minimal score differences):

ABC, ActionScript, Applescript, Arc, AutoLISP, bc, Bourne shell, C shell, Clojure, CoffeeScript, Common Lisp, Crystal, cT, Dylan, Elixir, Elm, Emacs Lisp, Erlang, F#, Forth, Hack, Icon, Inform, Io, J, Korn shell, LabVIEW, Ladder Logic, Lingo, LiveCode, Maple, Mercury, MQL4, NATURAL, OpenCL, OpenEdge ABL, PL/I, PostScript, Q, REXX, Ring, RPG, Simulink, Small Basic, Solidity, SPARK, Stata, Vala/Genie, VBScript, Verilog

Understanding the Index

The TIOBE index is updated monthly and reflects the popularity of programming languages among engineers, courses, and third‑party vendors. It does not measure language quality; developers can use it to gauge whether they need to update their skills or to inform language choices for new software projects.