Will Python Remain Number 1? Insights from the TIOBE June 2023 Programming Language Index

TIOBE 2023 June programming language ranking has been released, titled: Will Python remain number 1?

In the past five years Python has won the TIOBE Index three times, driven by data science and artificial intelligence, growing from a 3% share in 2017 to 17% by the end of last year.

However, this year Python's share fell to 13%, failing to maintain its historic high, while competitors C, Java and C++ are closing the gap.

Whether Python can stay at the top depends on the continued popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT; if such tools remain hot topics and attract newcomers, Python is likely to retain its lead.

ChatGPT and similar AI applications have positively impacted Python, boosting its adoption in text processing and NLP, enhancing the language's ecosystem, and encouraging developers to contribute to open‑source projects.

Two interesting new languages entered the top 50 for the first time: X++ (used in Microsoft Dynamics) and Raku (a successor to Perl).

X++ is an object‑oriented language originally developed by Axapta, later acquired by Microsoft and integrated into the ERP system Microsoft Dynamics AX, primarily for customizing and extending the platform.

Raku (formerly Perl 6) is a general‑purpose language aiming for flexibility, readability and maintainability; it started design in 2000 and was officially released in 2019, forming a distinct branch of the Perl family. Official site: https://raku.org/

This month the top‑20 ranking changed little; the top ten are: Python, C, C++, Java, C#, Visual Basic, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, Assembly language.

Python, C, C++, Java, C#, Visual Basic, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, Assembly language – historical trend chart (benefiting from AI development, Python’s rapid growth, recent dip)

Ranking 21‑50 programming languages

Historical ranking of major programming languages (1988‑2023)

Programming language "celebrity list" (2003‑2022)

TIOBE publishes a monthly programming language ranking based on the number of global engineers, courses and third‑party vendors, incorporating data from search engines and tech communities such as Google, Baidu and Wikipedia.

The data reflects current trends in mainstream programming languages and can serve as a reference for learning and work, but each language has its own suitable application scenarios, so the ranking should not be over‑emphasized.

Reference: https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/