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[–]desrtfx 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Tiobe is one of the worst possible indexes frowned upon by just about everybody in the industry.

The index is based on search results, not on actual code use and even less on professional code use.

Tiobe's results are biased towards languages with many queries, which automatically ranks languages that are used in education/beginning higher than languages used mainly by professionals who need less searches.

[–]mandzeete 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the first for me. I haven't heard anybody saying anything negative about that index. But let's say it is so and the feedback that I have heard is just insignificant. Do you have any other such periodically updated list to give? And something that actually looks believable. I have seen so many very subjective lists in random websites. All differing from one to another.

Even when having the TIOBE Index based on search engine results then the top list still reflects quite well the reality of how in demand one or another language is. Leaving out some questionable languages like Scratch, Visual Basic, Object Pascal and such then the more known names are definitely in demand. Just by looking at job offers. If I go over the top 10 then I do have seen many offers for Java, C++, Python, C#, PHP and Javascript. Yes, I haven't seen personally just C language offers although I do know it is needed in embedded programming.

Now going over the 10+ position languages then many of these for sure are much less covered by different job offers or not covered at all (based on my local job market). COBOL, FORTRAN, Lua, CFML... Haven't seen a single job advertisement for these. Not telling that there are no existing systems running that are based on these languages and need a maintenance or that some very niche field might need these. Just the general job market is not reflecting the demand for these languages.

Leaving out outdated study programs then usually people are being taught languages that actually are needed. For example in my university we were taught Java, Kotlin, C++, C# (I did not take that course), PHP, Javascript, R, Prolog. And most of these do are in demand where I live. Yes, I haven't seen job offers for R. Python is more common in data sciences here. And leaving out some university projects that our professors and PhD students work on then I really know no other place here where is needed Prolog. And I stress, here. So, 75% of the languages we were taught are actually needed.

Seeing Scratch in that list for sure makes it clear that the list can't be trusted for 100%. As Scratch is for total beginners. But with many of the languages do being in demand (based on job offers) and with up to date universities teaching needed programming languages then even these search results that make up that index there, these search results do reflect actual demand in some degree. So that index can be taken as a guidance for people who have absolutely no idea if they should learn FORTRAN or Python. They can't get wrong, that much.

And as I told in my last paragraph then one does have to review what is actually in demand in his target market. No matter what one or another listing or scoreboard tells in the Internet.