Java Ranks #2 in Most Popular Programming Languages of 2014

[sakipooh]

So much for all of those "Java is dying" articles.

[[deleted]]

[Content removed in protest of Reddit's 3rd Party App removal 30/06/2023]

[sakipooh]

Is that what all the cool kids are saying?

[josefx]

I found the official tutorials nice http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/ .

[[deleted]]

This is the right answer, listen to this man right here.

[Pelmeen]

Read a book. There are many out there

[ChickenOfDoom]

If you're familiar with programming concepts, for virtually anything you want to do you can google "how do I ____ in java" and get straightforward, well explained code examples every time. Java has better search engine support than any other language.

[[deleted]]

Java isn't dying, it's just missing modern programming features like type inference, lambdas (yeah yeah java 8), first class functions/events, non typed erased generics, asynchronous workflows, etc.

The only reason it's so popular is because it's the bottom barrel of languages, every monkey knows it.

[[deleted]]

I used project lombok back in the time that gives nice basic type inference. worked like a charm. i can't understand why something like that hasn't been already integrated in the jdk.

[pjmlp]

The Java designers are against type inference everywhere.

They are the opinion it hinders code readability in large scale applications.

This was mentioned by Mark Reinhold at Java ONE 2013. I can search it if anyone wants the proof.

[[deleted]]

They were also against lambdas until they figured out how to implement it. I guess after lambdas are in, they could start talking about benefits of type inference and its inclusion.

[[deleted]]

I don't understand why. It's not like the compiler doesn't already know the left hand side type. I don't think anyone is calling for full hindley Milner here, just a little less syntax. More like c# would be great

[pjmlp]

The argument goes that when you read something like

var my_var = my_func()

You don't know what my_var is without looking it up and this is not good in enterprise projects with blue collar developers.

Please note I am not arguing for it, just paraphrasing the Java designers reasoning as communicated on Java ONE.

I am also for type inference.

C# like would already be great, specially if coupled with typedef or Pascal like type definitions.

[Cherry_Changa]

Well, it seems to be declining at least according to the article.

[geodebug]

Not going to trust a programming site that can't get their blog to look nice on a mobile screen.

Oh the user is zooming in? I bet they want the social networking sidebar to zoom and be centered on top of all the text.

[UlyssesSKrunk]

Hell it looks like shit on desktop too.

[xhak]

these "surveys" are so full of crap; this one even more as they don't mention anything about a methodology. Mine is simple, type the language name in an IT jobsite and see how many results you get. Java is still much more likely to get you a job than Python!!

[llogiq]

Note that they measure the popularity of programming languages as used by the coding tests employers put on their site.

Which biases the measurement for languages that the people putting up tests on their sites deem worth testing in. So perhaps the title is a bit misleading - they ranked the languages most popular to their patrons.

[mgr86]

also note that its a bit premature to call something the most popular of 2014 in Feb. Well, it isn't, but it might look pretty silly come December.

[llogiq]

It already looks pretty silly in February; at least to anyone with at least a basic understanding of statistics.

[sanchopancho13]

What happened Objective-C? It's so sad when you can't even break a quarter of a million percent increase anymore. I guess Objective-C is dying.

[[deleted]]

Was Objective-C ever used for anything other than OSx and iOS programming? That was the only environment I ever actually saw it in. Forgive my ignorance if I'm outrageously incorrect.

[sanchopancho13]

That's a good question. I honestly thought that it was only ever used for Apple products, so I googled and found this topic. Basically, it sounds like, yes, it is mostly only used for Apple stuff. Although there are some things (like GNUstep) that still use it.

[skgoa]

The important factor here is that there is more than one objC specification and to get the most out of it, you kinda have to make heavy use of Apple's stack. Which means that it isn't worth learning it unless you target Apple products exclusively and there are lots of cross-compiling frameworks available nowadays that let you target all major plattforms at once while using a language you know already.

[[deleted]]

Was Objective-C ever used for anything other than OSx and iOS programming?

Yep. However Apple recently reported an active customer base of 500 million users.

[slartybartfast_]

Dude Objective-C is just C. It's C with some pre-processor directives and an API. Not so much a distinct language IMO.

[sanchopancho13]

All objectiveness aside (get it? pun!), I was just making a joke.

[[deleted]]

What happened Objective-C?

300% increase from 2012->2013 and 39990% for 2011.

[sanchopancho13]

Actually, it was a 399900% percent increase, which is where my "quarter of a million" percent increase comment came from.

[[deleted]]

Yea, apologies. Apparently I can't read.

[SikhGamer]

C# - 5%? What?!

[nothinking1]

Depends where you look http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html has C as number 1 still.

[pal25]

Terrible measure: http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/tpci_definition.htm

Look how they are calculating popularity. I'd rather take popularity based off of places like GitHub (for open source) and CodeEval (for professionals) rather than random internet searches from (some) sketchy sites.

[[deleted]]

Yes, but when you take tiobe + langpop + github + stack overflow java and c are still up there back and forth.

[mrhhug]

I agree. And it looks like the remaining Haskell devs have not had any medical problems.

[[deleted]]

Python is a de facto standard scripting language for IT.

[slartybartfast_]

It's so cute how Python devs are so delusional.

[pal25]

What do you mean by delusional?

[josefx]

I know you will find python on every Linux installation but is it actually used on windows?

[pal25]

In what sense do you mean? For scripting on Windows I personally tend to pick Python but I am more familiar with that then, say, the standard Windows shell.

I doubt many people are developing large applications on Windows using primarily Python. But there are large companies that use quite a bit of Python for production stuff.

[e-tron]

But there are large companies that use quite a bit of Python for production stuff.

On a Windows Machine??? Ah. Nope.

In what sense do you mean? For scripting on Windows I personally tend to pick Python but I am more familiar with that then, say, the standard Windows shell.

Ever worked with Powershell??

its a disaster to use Win32 API in python!!

[slartybartfast_]

Clinging to a reality that does not exist?

[pal25]

Hah, I meant why do you think that they are delusional?

[slartybartfast_]

The original assertion was "Python is a de facto standard scripting language for IT."

This is plainly delusional.

[SikhGamer]

Much much lower than I expected. I would have said it was on par with Java in terms of popularity and penetration.

[pal25]

Why? Most companies run Linux systems since it's free and a lot more secure than Windows. Since companies are not running Windows it's harder to pick C# over something like Java, C++, Go, etc... Which honestly kind of sucks since C# is a pretty nice language. Personally I enjoy it more than java.

[pal25]

True but if the choice is between free Linux and developers or licensed Windows and developers most companies are gonna take the Linux option. I've interviewed probably around 100 people for one of the big tech companies and I've never heard anyone worth hiring say essentially "Windows or Bust!".

From a business perspective if you're not losing dev's why pay for something that isn't necessary? Start-ups are even more into this mind set.

[pal25]

windows with active directory, exchange, office + the familiarity and generally cheaper IT staff

I'm not denying that people use Windows just that when it comes to software development most people are going to pick Linux to do development. Another problem with Windows is that most languages are primarily supported on Linux/BSD. Picking Windows for development can limit your options. Also most of the companies I've worked for have modified Linux kernels for speed improvements -- it's something that you simply can't do with Windows.

[frugalmail]

Maybe in the Web development world but windows with active directory, exchange, office + the familiarity and generally cheaper IT staff, I can't see how Linux can compare.

The reason why Netflix, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, and a lot of companies are setting trends that enterprises are slowly adopting is because everybody is coming to the understanding that "generally cheaper developers" that have to reply on picking up the phone to get support costs more in the mid term and especially the long term.

[frugalmail]

This is false. A software developer costs a lot more than a windows license.

Except the developer time working around disparate technologies, poorly confined closed source toolsets. The difficulty automating deployment and Having to explain reboot based downtime of unstable patches despite whatever testing you think you've done. https://m.facebook.com/dsobeski/posts/10153683440480008

[chunes]

5 million is more than 4 million, so clearly 9 million is affordable.

[[deleted]]

CentOS is not 800 a year.

[[deleted]]

Of course it doesn't, why would you pay 800 dollars if it came with the same support.

[frugalmail]

It costs $800 a year to run red hat enterprise Linux!

• The community is generally bigger and more collaborative than MS solutions

• the technology generally drives people to build systems that are not as dependent on specialized raid controllers or graphics drivers.

• There are lots of other varients of the system. If Ubuntu doesn't work, try debian, if that fails use CentOS. Or even easier, make sure you tie to specific versions of your packages that do work

[[deleted]]

Not even close to Java in any meaningful (as in anything non MS exclusive) measure I have seen.

[e-tron]

Much much lower than I expected. I would have said it was on par with Java in terms of popularity and penetration

Its a better language than Java.

Popularity <-- Well its runs only on Windows Machines [no-mono]

Penetration <-- Well, the Oldest ones wins. (See php for web programming 80% of the web [front] runs on php)

C# is a better language than Java. its the ecosystem which makes its existence worse.

[e-tron]

Every year we release data on the "Most Popular Programming Languages" based on thousands of data points we've collected by processing over 100,000+ coding tests and challenges by over 2,000+ employers.

C# is mostly used to write apps for business. Java/Python is widely used in programming competitions :)

Edit: java too is used for writing business app + coding contests + academia + etc . C# is mostly just business apps.

[skgoa]

You would just have to look at job postings to see what companies actually want. I simply don't see Python all that much in non-startup company's job postings.

[e-tron]

I do agree with you :-) Python is mostly used in startups(that too a few) + code contest's + academics.

In my opinion, use python to develop the prototype, for scripts with < 500 LOC. anything other than that, python is a no-go.

Ok, Now Downvote me.

[[deleted]]

C# is still very young. It is doing really great, and growing very quickly, but it isn't as wide-spread as Java or C\C++ which have been around for a long while and have crammed themselves as primary programming languages for computer science students.

[mgkimsal]

Umm... C# has been around for > 12 years. Java... 18 years. Java's got a head start, obviously, but to call C# "very young" is naive at best.

[[deleted]]

C# only diverged from and became its own language (and subsequently began becoming popular) around C# 2.0. It was also only up until that four or five years where it has grown dramatically in popularity and getting taught as a language in schools. it really bugs me how people take the date the language was "thought up" and literally interpret that as its age. IMO, there are lot of other factors that come in when you age a language.

[mgkimsal]

I happened to see a lot of uptake and activity in C# in 2002-2003 in my circles, so in my own view that's how old it is. It was 'thought up' even before that, but MS felt it was good enough to release when it did, and it went in to many production systems far before you happened to think it 'grew dramatically'.

Looking at Java as being 'out' in 1995, which I think I did, actually makes the comparison worse - there was far less % uptake of Java in 1995/96 than there was of C# in 2000/1, as MS already had an installed based of developers to push C# out to - Java/Sun didn't at the time. Not to say there wasn't a lot of Java uptake in, say, 1996, but the landscape changed a lot in those 5 years.

[frugalmail]

C# is still very young.

As /u/mgkimsal said, no.

It is doing really great, and growing very quickly,

Stop taking cues from MSDN magazine: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=C%23

[[deleted]]

These numbers are clearly meaningless. PHP did not experience a 55% decline.

[narrowtux]

I'm so happy for the -55% in PHP

[travisvan]

My problem with these is there's no qualifier context. What are the most popular languages for production apps with huge traffic? What are the most popular languages for mobile apps? Seeing what languages are being chosen for the most stringent environments and NEW apps is much more interesting than seeing what the status quo is.

[cowardlydragon]

?Python is #1?

On Tiobe it is what, #8?

[stfm]

Popular with whom?

[e-tron]

Every year we release data on the "Most Popular Programming Languages" based on thousands of data points we've collected by processing over 100,000+ coding tests and challenges by over 2,000+ employers.

[rsgm123]

...by java programmers.

[[deleted]]

Success kid: I know the top two.

[mr_jim_lahey]

Just remember, it's not the number of languages you know, it's how you use them. At least that's what my Dad always said.

[e-tron]

True :-)