This news was widely anticipated and, as it's the sixth time Python has won this accolade, it might even be attracting some yawns. However, you would be wrong to view Python as boring. When you delve into it there's a lot to discover.

Any data analyst looking at the top 10 chart of the TIOBE Index for the first time would instantly point to the fact that the obvious noise from those zigag spikes throws doubt on it validity.  So yes, we do value the TIOBE Index, but only as a general indication of which way the wind if blowing and in Python's case it seems pretty constant.

Its Programming Language of the Year Award is very straightforward. It goes to the one that has experienced the highest increase in ratings over the calendar year. And as you can see from this month's chart, Python (in light blue) showed awesome performance in 2024.

It is Paul Jansen, CEO of TIOBE Software, who maintains the index. He updates the chart and the league table on a monthly basis and provides us with an insightful report.

Today's tells us:

Python gained a whopping 9.3% in 2024. This is far ahead of its competition: Java +2.3%, JavaScript +1.4% and Go +1.2%.

Python is everywhere nowadays, and it is the undisputed default language of choice in many fields. It might even become the language with the highest ranking ever in the TIOBE index. Python's only serious drawbacks are (and thus leaving room for competition) its lack of performance and that most errors can only be detected at run-time.

His other observations about the TIOBE index top 10 in 2024 are:

The C language lost a lot of popularity and was surpassed by C++ and Java. The main reason for this is that C is replaced by C++ in a lot of embedded software systems. Java and C++ are currently fighting for the top 2 position.

The other interesting thing is that PHP said a final farewell to the top 10 and is replaced by Go, which is a top 10 keeper.

Looking at languages ranking between 10 and 20 Jansen picks out Rust and Kotlin, asking whether they lived up to their promises in 2024?

Rust is still getting more popular. Despite the amazing speed of Rust programs, its steep learning curve will never make it become the lingua franca of the common programmer unfortunately. Kotlin, on the other hand, disappointed: it didn't break through and even lost (possibly permanently) its top 20 position in 2024.

He also comments on two new languages that could gain prominence in future years. The first is Zig, which climbed from #149 to #61 in 2024. It is a competitor to Rust as explained when we first met it in 2023. The other is Mojo, which jumped from position #194 to #68. We covered Mojo when it briefly achieved a place in the TIOBE top 50. Described as a Go-faster Python it is the brain child of Chris Lattner and his AI-focused company Modular. You'll find a detailed account of why it makes this claim in Sue Gee's report. 

To return to Python, version 3.13 was released in October with an emphasis on improved performance. Its most talked about change was to permit threading with the GIL disabled to permit CPU-bound programs to run faster with a single copy of the Python interpreter using multiple cores. This is still an experimental feature as is the most important new feature for most Python programmers, which is the introduction of a JIT compiler. At the moment the speed gains are described as modest, but it does lay the groundwork for more significant performance improvements in future. 

Python 3.13 also introduced improvements in typing, static analysis, and the library ecosystem but did nothing to rock the boat. Similarly the focus for Python 3.14, due out in 2025, is ongoing improvements to the language, performance optimizations, building on the experimental JIT compiler in 3.13, and refinements to the development process. Having learned the lesson of the chaos caused by the non-backward-compatible more from Python 2 to Python 3, Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python, has expressed his preference for continued development within the Python 3 series rather than another major version jump. This stability in the language is to be welcomed as it gives programmers confidence that they won't need to constantly refactor their work.

So what are my favorite features of Python:

• you can write it as a non-object-oriented language, but still use objects
• if you do choose to write object-oriented code then it is really good at it
• it is still mostly batteries included and you don't have to look far for modules that help you get almost any job done
• I can extend it with C very easily

and finally and controversially

• it is a dynamic and untyped language

• Mike James is the author of the Programmer's Python: Something Completely Different series of books which set out to show how Python diverges from other programming languages and how its special features deserve attention. His 2023 book,  Extending & Embedding Python Using C, tells Python programmers everything they need to know to create a C extension for Python.

More Information

TIOBE Index

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