Inherited programming languages, once it is believed to be relics of the past, they are having a surprising return. This month, Fortran, Ada, Cobol and Delphi compete for positions in the Tiobe Top 20 index.
Takeeways of the March classification of Tiobe:
- Piton: Recently named “Tiobe's Programming Language of the Year 2024” in January by the CEO of Tiobe, Paul Jansen, his meteoric ascent continues.
- C ++: It maintains its strength in second place in the classification.
- Fortran and Delphi: Both inherited languages are fighting for a place in the Top 10.
- COBOL AND ADA: Both went back into the top 20 this month. Ada, in particular, was the third highest classification language in 1985.
“I think (return) has to do with the many inherited systems that keep the world in operation,” Jansen said in the Tiobe programming community index in March. “Most of them develop with the help of these dinosaur languages.”
A change in priorities: February vs. March
This marks a remarkable change of the February classifications, which were dominated by speed -centered languages such as C + +, Go and Rust. Jansen attributed that tendency to the growing need for computational efficiency.
Jansen said that this was due to the fact that “the world needs to grow more and more numbers per second”, and because hardware does not evolve quick enough, the programs must be faster.
However, March classifications highlight a different reality: many organizations prioritize speed stability.
Why older programming languages are still popular
Organizations that manage critical infrastructure are known for housing inherited devices, since replacing obsolete technology while maintaining normal operations is difficult and expensive. Jansen explained that this is the reason why the “new and promising languages” are not seeing an upward trend similar to the elderly.
SEE: 80% of critical infrastructure companies experienced an email security violation in 2024
“Now that the last of the central developers of these systems is about to withdraw, companies avoid any risk and choose to maintain existing systems and even extend them instead of replacing them with newer systems based on more modern languages,” he said.
Despite being referred as “dinosaurs”, these inherited languages have not remained static. To remain relevant, many have received significant updates in recent years. New languages of languages have been published for Fortran, Delphi, Ada and Cobol in the last two years.
“We could frown to see that these languages are in the Tiobe Top 20 index, but they definitely have a purpose and deserve credit,” Jansen said.
Python remains the most commented programming language
Once again, Python is the number one language in the TIOBE index, which means that it receives the greatest attention in search engines, work publications and educational resources. Its popularity and use have been constantly increasing since 2017, but really in the boom as of June 2024 onwards.
It is believed that this trend is closely linked to the growing availability and generalized adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. As more companies hire early career programmers for AI -related roles, such as fast engineering, Python, known for their simplicity and intuition, has become their language of choice.
“That is why Python is here to stay,” Jansen wrote last month.
While the newest languages continue to emerge, it is clear that inherited languages still play a crucial role in modern computer science. Its adaptability and their presence rooted in critical systems suggest that these so -called 'dinosaurs' are far from extinguishing.
