close
close

TIOBE Programming Language Index News: C Loses Its Crown

Posted on by darion

The top three programming languages ​​in the TIOBE Programming Community Index saw a major shakeup in September, as C dropped to fourth place on the list. This is the lowest ranking C has ever achieved since it first appeared at the top of the index in 2001.

C rose from 9.17% in August to 8.89% in September. This continues a downward trend for C, which peaked at 16.56% in December 2022 and has largely been declining since then.

The TIOBE programming community index shows trends in programming languages ​​based on search volume.

Chart showing year-over-year trends based on the TIOBE Developer Community Index.
Year-over-year trends according to the TIOBE Programming Community Index. Image: TIOBE Software

Why has C’s popularity declined?

“Large C programs are hard to maintain because of the lack of object-oriented features,” wrote TIOBE Software CEO Paul Jansen in the monthly TIOBE Index. “Now that embedded systems are growing in functionality and therefore code size, and as more and more embedded compilers have good support for C++, there is a trend to move from C to C++.”

In addition, the US government has deemed C a memory-unsafe language. Companies can choose Rust over C to meet memory-safety standards.

The chart showing C’s position in the index has varied over the decades, but the current downward trend began in December 2022.
The C index position has fluctuated over the decades, but the current downward trend began in December 2022. Photo: TIOBE Software

However, “C may lose its appeal, but it will remain in the TIOBE top ten for a very long time,” Jansen wrote. “Its installed base is incredible and it is part of a billion safety-critical systems worldwide.”

C still generates efficient code, Jansen noted, and was a cornerstone of embedded systems. But its lack of object-oriented features makes it hard to scale. C++ solves that problem.

Other changes in the TIOBE index in September

C leaving the top three on the list allowed Java to take third place, jumping from 9.16% in August to 9.45% in September. Fortran remained in tenth place.