{"id":539,"date":"2020-03-09T13:22:56","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T19:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redmonk.com\/rstephens\/?p=539"},"modified":"2020-03-09T14:17:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T20:17:23","slug":"slackchat-jan20-programming-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmonk.com\/rstephens\/2020\/03\/09\/slackchat-jan20-programming-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"RedMonk SlackChat: January 2020 Programming Language Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

This iteration of the RedMonk Programming Language Rankings is brought to you by MongoDB. No matter the language, MongoDB helps developers solve their hardest data problems. Build better, bigger, and faster with MongoDB Cloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong> (Kelly Fitzpatrick<\/a>): The purpose of this chat is to discuss the findings of the January 2020 RedMonk Programming Language Rankings, sponsored by our good friends at MongoDB.<\/p>\n

RedMonk publishes rankings every six months, and we felt it would be good to have a discussion to get behind the numbers and charts. For folks who may have missed them, this conversation references the January 2020 rankings<\/a> and the Top 20 Language Over Time for January 2020<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"RedMonk<\/a><\/p>\n

Now that we have all of the important background information out, what were your general impressions of this round of rankings?<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong> (James Governor<\/a>): BEST RANKINGS EVAR!<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: @monkchips No confirmation bias there at all.<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong> (Steve O’Grady<\/a>): As the rankings typically go, it had some surprises, even in the Top 10 which almost never happens.<\/p>\n

We had our first non-Java or JavaScript language in the Top 2 ever, and TypeScript continued its remarkable ascent.<\/p>\n

rachel<\/strong> (Rachel Stephens<\/a>): This is the first time since I\u2019ve started working on them that there\u2019s been any movement in the Top 5.<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong>: Right?<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong> Is that right, @rachel? Didn\u2019t PHP and Python trade places since you\u2019ve been doing them?<\/p>\n

Either way, yes, there was a lot of notable movement.<\/p>\n

rachel<\/strong>: I have no sense of time before having a kid. This is the first time there\u2019s been a change since I stopped consistently sleeping, in any case.<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong>: lol<\/p>\n

rachel<\/strong>: In any case, the Python move was definitely interesting to see. I\u2019m curious if that will be sustainable or if it\u2019s just a blip. It has some definite momentum, but it’s hard when the metrics are inherently cumulative.<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong>: So is Python winning, or is Java losing?<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: Can’t they both be winning?<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong>: The former. First, because they\u2019re tied. Second, because we haven\u2019t seen any notable dropoff in Java, but we have seen Python continue to make gains in various disciplines.<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong>: OK, so here is the thing. While I know Python has made huge strides, certainly in becoming “the language of data science” and has a growing community very well-indexed on both Stack Overflow and GitHub, I am really interested in the team’s ideas about what specifically has given it this latest push.<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong>: I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s so much a push, as much as the culmination of a long term approach. Python isn\u2019t necessarily the best language in a given area – say, data science – but it\u2019s good at a lot of things. Combine that with a syntax that\u2019s easy to learn, and it\u2019s not hard to understand why the language is growing.<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: I mentioned this last time, but to me the increased prevalence of Python in various types of introductory programming resources is huge.<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong>: Oh tell me more about that onboarding insight, @kelly.<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: It is good at a lot of things. If Python is where a critical mass of early-career programmers are comfortable, that will shape how they look for other types of learning resources, how they interact with public projects, the types of questions they are asking in forums, etc.<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong>: Agreed. R\u2019s continued strength is similar; the language has obvious shortcomings, syntactical, performance and otherwise – but every stats and data science course anywhere is based on it and its ecosystem. Having been trained in it, then, a ton of statisticians and data scientists continue to use it post-graduation.<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: I like this idea of certain languages acting as “gateway languages” to learning other software development concepts. And not too long ago, Java was that gateway language for many (although that has changed).<\/p>\n

monkchips<\/strong>: I still feel like Python is sort of an enigma. Like it doesn’t feel like an “enterprise standard” in many ways, but I know that if I went to many companies’ data science teams they’re hiring Python folks like nobody’s business.<\/p>\n

rachel<\/strong>: It\u2019s also a great glue language that lets disparate code interoperate. In that sense it makes a lot of sense for enterprises to invest in Python as a way of investing in their established code. Also: https:\/\/xkcd.com\/353\/<\/a><\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: So aside from Python’s ascent, are there any other surprises in this round’s rankings that we should dig into?<\/p>\n

sogrady<\/strong>: TypeScript\u2019s continued growth is definitely worth discussing. I half-expected it to bounce back out of the Top 10 as Swift did before it – instead it moved up in the Top 10 which is exceptionally difficult to do. We haven\u2019t seen that before in fact, I\u2019m pretty sure.<\/p>\n

And looking at @rachel\u2019s historical language ranking chart confirms it: we have not seen a language break into the Top 10 and keep growing before – ever.<\/p>\n

rachel<\/strong>: The traction around TypeScript is impressive; the number of JavaScript devs I\u2019ve chatted with that are complete converts to the approach is sizable.<\/p>\n

kelly<\/strong>: One of the questions we got on Twitter about this round of rankings actually addresses both TypeScript’s ascent and Python’s ranking, so I am going to throw it in here:<\/p>\n

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how big is the gap between #1 & #2? With devs favouring TypeScript over JavaScript could we see Python make it to the top spot next year? (esp given growth in data analysis)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tracy Miranda (@tracymiranda) March 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n