Fortran was in the top 10 of the TIOBE Programming Community Index in April and May, prompting a question from the TIOBE community. Why is this programming language, created in 1957, popular again in 2024? Otherwise, there hasn't been much movement in the top 10 ranking compared to last month.
The TIOBE programming community index shows trends in programming languages based on search engine volume.
Why Fortran returns to the TIOBE top 10
Paul Jansen, CEO of TIOBE Software, said there are multiple reasons why Fortran is popular again.
First, Fortran is especially good at numerical analysis and computational mathematics. Numerical and mathematical computing is growing because interest in artificial intelligence is growing, Jansen told TechRepublic in an email.
“All of those models have to be calculated,” Jansen said.
Fortran has some advantages over other programming languages that can be used in numerical and mathematical computing. Jansen wrote in the May index update: “Python: number one choice, but slow, MATLAB: very easy to use for mathematical calculation but comes with expensive licenses, C/C++: conventional and fast, but no native mathematical software. computing support, R: very similar to Python, but less popular and slow, Julia: the new up-and-coming kid on the block, but not mature yet.” Therefore, Fortran is a relatively inexpensive, fast and versatile option.
Second, Fortran is regaining popularity in the area of image processing, such as that used in gaming and medical imaging, he said.
Fortran is still being updated; The ISO Fortran 2023 specification definition was published in November 2023.
The venerable language is “fast, has native, mature, and free mathematical calculation support,” Jansen said.
Other changes in the TIOBE Index in May
Elsewhere in the TIOBE top 10, Python, C and C++ comfortably maintain their places in the top three. Last month, Jansen predicted that PHP's popularity would fade, and he was right. PHP had a popularity of 1.09% in April and 0.97% in May, continuing its downward trend. PHP fell from 8th to 16th place over the past year.
