Python has reached its highest rating ever in the monthly Tiobe index of programming language popularity. On its current trajectory, Tiobe noted, Python could leapfrog Java and C in the next three or four years to become the index’s most-popular language.

The June Tiobe rating of 8.53 percent for Python tops its previous high of 8.376 percent achieved last December. Python remains in third place behind Java and C. Python offers an ease of use that Java and C do not and is attracting a lot of newcomers, Tiobe reasoned.

Tiobe’s index bases its ratings on a formula that assesses searches related to programming languages in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Specifically, ratings are based on the number of courses, skilled engineers, and third-party vendors pertinent to a language. Python already is at the top of the rival Pypl (Popularity of Programming Language) index, which bases ratings only on how often language tutorials are searched in Google.

Also on the rise in the June Tiobe index, Apple’s Swift language is ranked 11th, with a rating of 1.419 percent. Swift was ranked 15th at this time last year and 18th last month, while its predecessor Objective-C language ranked 12th this month with a rating of 1.391. Tiobe expects Objective-C to drop out of the top 20 within two years.

The June Tiobe index has the Groovy language ranked 14th, with a rating of 1.3 percent. This compares to a ranking of 60th one year ago, with a barely measurable .19 rating. Tiobe sees Groovy as having been boosted by its use in writing scripts for the Jenkins continuous integration tool but questions whether Groovy can keep its top 20 position.

The Tiobe Index Top 10

Following are the top 10 languages in the June 2019 Tiobe index:

Java, with a rating of 15.004 percent C, at 13.3 percent Python, at 8.53 percent C++, at 7.384 percent Visual Basic .Net, at 4.624 percent C#, at 4.483 percent JavaScript, at 2.716 percent PHP, at 2.567 percent SQL, at 2.224 percent Assembly, at 1.479 percent

The Pypl Index Top 10

Following are the top 10 languages in the June 2018 Pypl index: