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The C language, which displaced Java as the most popular language in the Tiobe Programming Communitymonthly assessment in April, has maintained its number 1 spot inthe May report released this week. But a high-profile member of thePHP community is questioning the accuracy of the index itself. The May release of the index, which gauges the popularity ofprogramming languages, had C used by 17.346 percent of developers,as opposed to 16.599 percent using Java. The index is based on thenumber of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-partyvendors interested in the particular languages. Examinations ofsearch engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo are used tocalculate ratings; other sites such as Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube,and Baidu are factored in as well. [ Open source Java is moving to Linux and AIX on the PowerPC architecture. For moreanalysis of software development, subscribe to InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. ] But Andi Gutmans, who is a key developer of PHP and CEO of PHPtools maker Zend Technologies, dismisses Tiobe's index, citing itstendency to fluctuate. "It's very questionable how they come upwith those numbers," Gutmans said. Tiobe's index for May has PHP asthe sixth-most-popular language, but used by just 5.711 percent ofdevelopers. Gutmans insists PHP usage is growing quickly. He citedother industry figures showing 50 percent of the Web running PHP. Tiobe Managing Director Paul Jansen defended the index, saying mostcriticism comes from declining programming communities. "Of course,we use a very simple algorithm so it is easy to shoot at if [it]doesn't fit your expectations, but it shows something about thevisibility of each language on the Internet over time," Jansensaid. "It is not scientific but at least it is the best try I haveseen so far. If Andi Gutmans has some suggestions [for] how toimprove the Tiobe index, I really would like to know. We arewilling to adjust the index if he shows up with a good suggestion." Tiobe in its report said the top 10 languages in its index had notchanged much in the past eight years, apart from Objective-C movinginto a slot and Delphi moving out. New language adoption appears tobe much harder than expected. "The main reason for this is probablythat it is very difficult to migrate a large code base from onelanguage to another one. So changes are slow. But even if we takethis into account, there are no new languages that show a slow butconstant [rise]," Jansen said in the report. Tiobe cited Scala as an example of a language that has not had muchmovement over the years, even if it is becoming a hot topic inInternet discussions. Currently ranked 46th, Scala entered theTiobe index at number 57 in 2006 and moved up to number 48 a yearlater. "Not much happened to the language after that,"Jansen said in the report. Other examples of languages not movingforward much in the index include F#, ranked in the 40thspot now and 38th six years ago; Groovy, now 32nd and ranked 36thin 2008, and Erlang, which is now ranked 44th and was ranked 35thin 2006. "So where is that next big programming language? Let usknow," said Jansen. Also in Tiobe's top 10 for the month were: C++, in third place usedby 9.825 percent of developers, followed by Objective-C with 8.309percent and C# at 6.823 percent. Ranking after PHP wereVisual Basic with 5.457 percent; Python with 3.819 percent; Perlwith 2.805 percent, and JavaScript with 2.135 percent. This article, " C keeps its lead over Java, but index's accuracy is questioned ," was originally published at InfoWorld.com . Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter . For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter . Read more about application development in InfoWorld's Application Development Channel. I am an expert from custom-textileprinting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Custom Printed Cycling Jerseys Manufacturer , Microfiber Travel Towel, Personalized Pillow Cases,and more.
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