Top 10 Programming Languages 2015

Note: Left column shows 2015 ranking; right column shows 2014 ranking.

Source: IEEE Spectrum

The big five—Java, C, C++, Python, and C#—remain on top, with their ranking undisturbed, but C has edged to within a whisper of knocking Java off the top spot. The big mover is R, a statistical computing language that’s handy for analyzing and visualizing big data, which comes in at sixth place. Last year it was in ninth place, and its move reflects the growing importance of big data to a number of fields. A significant amount of movement has occurred further down in the rankings, as languages like Go, Perl, and even Assembly jockey for position…

A number of languages have entered the rankings for the first time. Swift, Apple’s new language, has already gained enough traction to make a strong appearance despite being released only 13 months ago. Cuda is another interesting entry—it’s a language created by graphics chip company Nvidia that’s designed for general-purpose computing using the company’s powerful but specialized graphics processors, which can be found in many desktop and mobile devices. Seven languages in all are appearing for the first time.