C Isn't The Most Popular Programming Language, JavaScript Is (networkworld.com)

An anonymous reader quotes Network World: U.K.-based technology analyst firm RedMonk just released the latest version of its biannual rankings of programming languages, and once again JavaScript tops the list, followed by Java and PHP. Those are same three languages that topped RedMonk's list in January. In fact, the entire top 10 remains the same as it was it was six months ago...
Python ranked #4 on RedMonk's list, while the survey found a three-way tie for fifth place between Ruby, C#, and C++, with C coming in at #9 (ranking just below CSS). Network World argues that while change comes slowly, "if you go back deeper into RedMonk's rankings, you can see slow, ongoing ascents from languages such as Go, Swift and even TypeScript."

Interestingly, an earlier ranking by the IEEE declared C to be the top programming language of 2016, followed by Java, Python, C++, and R. But RedMonk's methodology involves studying the prevalence of each language on both Stack Overflow and GitHub, a correlation which "we believe to be predictive of future use, hence their value."

Comments

CSS?

[Khyber]

CSS is hardly a programming language. Thus, RedMonk can be safely ignored.

This probably overlooks embedded development

[El Cubano]

But RedMonk's methodology involves studying the prevalence of each language on both Stack Overflow and GitHub, a correlation which "we believe to be predictive of future use, hence their value.

I know smartphones are all the rage, but there are tonnes of old school embedded devices out there and tonnes more still being developed. By old school I mean run on some embedded-type CPU or ASIC, run some custom OS, and only have a C compiler available (probably the one written by the team that bootstrapped development of the initial version of the device).

I doubt that developers working on those devices regularly post their code to GitHub and fairly positive that not many of them would post to StackOverflow asking how to make a flubord close with a genie effect on Ubuntu using clang when there is a PS/2 mouse connected.

A methodology that relies on GH and SO posts is likely to be strongly biased toward new web-based and open source development.

Re:Javascript

[chrism238]

Unusual distinction that you make. So where do you stand on the languages Python, the Unix shell, Tcl/Tk, ..... ?

misleading headline

[brasselv]

it's a case of misleading headlines (yeah, shocking)

as others have pointed out, the authors don't make any claim that their list represents the 'most popular languages', just that those languages enjoy particularly high visibility on two specific platforms - github and stack overflow.

you have a virtually infinite number of ways to count "popularity", some more useful than others, but each of them inevitably somewhat arbitrary.
last time I checked, oracle claimed java to be the world's most popular language, and by the way they measure it, they must be right.
heck, you could instead count each web pageview with one line of js as instance of 'program execution', count the big number and have a different winner. don't take it too seriously.