Lojic Technologies Blog » java http://lojic.com/blog Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:12:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Programming Language Popularity – Part Four http://lojic.com/blog/2011/09/22/programming-language-popularity-part-four/ http://lojic.com/blog/2011/09/22/programming-language-popularity-part-four/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:37:07 +0000 Brian Adkins http://lojic.com/blog/?p=866 I compiled some programming language popularity statistics in April 2009, October 2009 and October 2010 . Here’s an update for September 2011:

I made a number of Google searches of the forms below and summed the results (previous posts averaged the results):

"implemented in <language>"
  "written in <language>"

Naturally this is of very limited utility, and the numbers are only useful when comparing relatively within the same search since the number of results Google returns can vary greatly over time.

Language Total Prev. Position Position Delta
C 10,360,000 2 1
PHP 10,351,000 1 -1
C++ 6,495,000 3 0
Python 5,759,000 5 1
C# 5,335,000 4 -1
 
Java 4,890,000 8 2
Perl 3,702,000 6 -1
JavaScript 3,077,000 7 -1
Ruby 1,654,000 9 0
Lisp Family1 1,022,870 11 1
 
FORTRAN 975,600 10 -1
Tcl 594,500 12 0
Lisp 486,000 14 1
Haskell 450,500 16 2
Erlang 419,700 13 -2
 
Lua 367,100 18 2
ML Family2 348,400 17 0
COBOL 308,270 15 -3
Common Lisp 254,900 19 0
OCaml 240,300 21 1
 
Prolog 224,000 20 -1
Scala 203,400 23 1
Scheme 184,700 22 -1
Smalltalk 129,700 24 0
Clojure 84,600 27 2
 
(S)ML3 83,630 25 -1
Forth 69,980 26 -1
Caml 24,470 28 0
Io 17,700 30 1
Arc 12,670 29 -1

1 combines Lisp, Scheme, Common Lisp, Arc & Clojure
2 combines OCaml, (S)ML, Caml
3 summed separate searches for sml and ml

]]> http://lojic.com/blog/2011/09/22/programming-language-popularity-part-four/feed/ 0 Programming Language Popularity – Part Three http://lojic.com/blog/2010/10/08/programming-language-popularity-%e2%80%93-part-three/ http://lojic.com/blog/2010/10/08/programming-language-popularity-%e2%80%93-part-three/#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:30:00 +0000 Brian Adkins http://lojic.com/blog/?p=823 I compiled some programming language popularity statistics in April 2009 and October 2009 . Here’s an update for October 2010:

I made a number of Google searches of the forms below and averaged the results:

"implemented in <language>"
  "written in <language>"

Naturally this is of very limited utility, and the numbers are only useful when comparing relatively within one column since the number of results Google returns can vary greatly over time.

Language Apr 2009 Oct 2009 Oct 2010 Position Delta
PHP 680,000 5,083,500 14,096,000 +3
C 1,905,500 16,975,000 9,675,000 -1
C++ 699,000 6,270,000 6,510,000 -1
C# 349,700 2,125,000 5,132,000 +4
Python 396,000 3,407,000 5,114,500 +1
Perl 365,500 3,132,500 4,675,000 +1
JavaScript 102,700 1,163,000 2,120,000 +4
Java 850,000 5,118,000 1,495,500 -5
Ruby 99,650 227,000 1,426,000 +13
FORTRAN 1,621,000 770,850 0
Lisp Family1 176,507 3,489,650 399,685 -6
Tcl 44,800 382,000 313,400 +5
Erlang 22,285 161,700 188,800 +12
Lisp 61,900 486,500 174,050 +1
COBOL 247,300 166,435 +6
Haskell 22,550 280,500 157,150 +4
ML Family2 29,062 1,003,800 149,005 -5
Lua 13,065 131,800 128,150 +9
Common Lisp 20,600 554,500 112,750 -5
Prolog 17,750 390,500 100,000 -4
OCaml 22,000 343,500 99,050 -3
Scheme 86,450 2,100,000 82,650 -13
Scala 3,570 66,250 65,950 +6
Smalltalk 9,105 187,500 56,950 0
(S)ML3 5,173 590,700 42,130 -12
Forth 6,465 146,450 25,880 0
Clojure 782 62,200 23,525 +3
Caml 1,889 69,600 7,825 0
Arc 6,775 286,500 6,710 -10
Io 1,760 198,500 3,025 -7

1 combines Lisp, Scheme, Common Lisp, Arc & Clojure
2 combines OCaml, (S)ML, Caml
3 summed separate searches for sml and ml

]]> http://lojic.com/blog/2010/10/08/programming-language-popularity-%e2%80%93-part-three/feed/ 1 Programming Language Popularity – Part Two http://lojic.com/blog/2009/10/24/programming-language-popularity-part-two/ http://lojic.com/blog/2009/10/24/programming-language-popularity-part-two/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:23 +0000 Brian Adkins http://lojic.com/blog/?p=781 I compiled some programming language popularity statistics in April and mentioned I’d update the results in 6 months, so here they are:

I made a number of Google searches of the forms below and averaged the results:

"implemented in <language>"
"written in <language>"

Language # Results
Apr 09		 # Results
Oct 09		 Position
Delta
C 1,905,500 16,975,000 0
C++ 699,000 6,270,000 +1
Java 850,000 5,118,000 -1
PHP 680,000 5,083,500 0
Lisp Family1 176,507 3,489,650 +3
Python 396,000 3,407,000 -1
Perl 365,500 3,132,500 -1
C# 349,700 2,125,000 -1
Scheme 86,450 2,100,000 +2
FORTRAN 1,621,000 N/A
JavaScript 102,700 1,163,000 -1
ML Family2 29,062 1,003,800 +3
(S)ML3 5,173 590,700 +12
Common Lisp 20,600 554,500 +5
Lisp 61,900 486,500 -2
Prolog 17,750 390,500 +4
Tcl 44,800 382,000 -3
OCaml 22,000 343,500 0
Arc 6,775 286,500 +4
Haskell 22,550 280,500 -4
COBOL 247,300 N/A
Ruby 99,650 227,000 -10
Io 1,760 198,500 +6
Smalltalk 9,105 187,500 -1
Erlang 22,285 161,700 -7
Forth 6,465 146,450 -1
Lua 13,065 131,800 -5
Caml 1,889 69,600 0
Scala 3,570 66,250 -2
Clojure 782 62,200 0

1 combines Lisp, Scheme, Common Lisp, Arc & Clojure
2 combines OCaml, (S)ML, Caml
3 summed separate searches for sml and ml

]]> http://lojic.com/blog/2009/10/24/programming-language-popularity-part-two/feed/ 0 Programming Language Popularity http://lojic.com/blog/2009/04/21/programming-language-popularity/ http://lojic.com/blog/2009/04/21/programming-language-popularity/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:55:41 +0000 Brian Adkins http://lojic.com/blog/?p=466 Despite the numerous ways in existence to quantify programming language popularity, I thought I’d throw yet another one into the mix. I made a number of Google searches of the forms below and averaged the results:

"implemented in <language>"
"written in <language>"

I’m very curious to see how these stats change over time, so I’ve added a calendar item to recompute them in six months. Leave a comment if you’d like to add a programming language to the list, and I’ll update this article and it will be included in the recomputation six months from now.

Language # Results
C 1,905,500
Java 850,000
C++ 699,000
PHP 680,000
Python 396,000
Perl 365,500
C# 349,700
Lisp Family1 176,507
JavaScript 102,700
Ruby 99,650
Scheme 86,450
Lisp 61,900
Tcl 44,800
ML Family2 29,062
Haskell 22,550
Erlang 22,285
OCaml 22,000
Common Lisp 20,600
Prolog 17,750
Lua 13,065
Smalltalk 9,105
Arc 6,775
Forth 6,465
(S)ML3 5,173
Scala 3,570
Caml 1,889
Io 1,760
Clojure 782

1 combines Lisp, Scheme, Common Lisp, Arc & Clojure
2 combines OCaml, (S)ML, Caml
3 summed separate searches for sml and ml
Update 4/23/09 added C#, Tcl per comment requests.

]]> http://lojic.com/blog/2009/04/21/programming-language-popularity/feed/ 10 2008 Programming Language Plan http://lojic.com/blog/2008/01/17/2008-programming-language-plan/ http://lojic.com/blog/2008/01/17/2008-programming-language-plan/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:12:17 +0000 Brian Adkins http://lojic.com/blog/2008/01/17/2008-programming-language-plan/ I’ve learned a number of programming languages since I began programming 25 years ago. Earlier in my career, my choice of which programming language to learn was largely driven by external factors such as a class or job requirement, or the expectation of job demand in the future.

More recently I’ve enjoyed learning new programming languages both for the joy of learning something new, and for an increase in productivity.

While it’s true that no programming language is a silver bullet, I’ve found that the choice of programming language can provide a dramatic increase in productivity – much more so than many have asserted. The benefit can be direct, by allowing the creation of a solution to a particular problem with less time and effort than it would take using another language, or it can be an indirect by providing new ways to think about a solution.

Do you think language affects how we think?

The Past

In 1982, I spotted a Radio Shack Color Computer in a store window and immediately applied for a Radio Shack credit card which had a credit limit ($500) sufficient to purchase the computer which had 4K of RAM (I later upgraded to 16K) and no external storage (unless you count the ability to hook up a cassette recorder). Contrast the 16K RAM of that early machine with my current 2,097,152K RAM :)

That was the beginning of a life long interest in programming.

In the language list below, bold indicates a more significant professional involvement, and the year indicates when I first learned the language. I’ve also likely forgotten a few:

  1. 1982 – Radio Shack Extended Color BASIC
  2. 1983 – 6809e Assembler
  3. 1983 – Pascal
  4. 1984 – HP 48SX RPL
  5. 1984 – S/360 Assembler
  6. 1985 – COBOL
  7. 1985 – dBase III / Metafile
  8. 1985 – C
  9. 1985 – 8088/8086 Assembler
  10. 1986 – C++
  11. 1996 – Java
  12. 1997 – Perl
  13. 2002 – C#
  14. 2004 – Python
  15. 2005 – JavaScript
  16. 2006 – Ruby
  17. 2007 – PHP

The Present

Currently, I program primarily in Ruby, followed by JavaScript and the occasional PHP script. Ruby is the most productive programming language I’ve used thus far. The combination of power, pragmatism & pleasure in programming is hard to beat. If it also had performance, it would be a truly great language.

I’ve also begun learning Logo as I teach my daughter how to program. Logo is a great introduction to the Lisp family, so I hope to leverage it as I learn Scheme and Common Lisp later this year.

The Future

After completing the Logo course with my daughter, I plan on moving on to Scheme as I go through Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs which some have called the greatest computer science text ever written.

After Scheme I plan on learning Common Lisp which has the potential to replace Ruby as my primary programming language.

Beyond Logo/Scheme/Common Lisp, the following languages are of interest:

  • Haskell
  • Erlang
  • Lua
  • ML
  • OCaml

If you know of candidates for a future programming language, feel free to add it in a comment.

You may notice that Smalltalk is lacking from the lists above. Despite its prominence in programming language history, I currently don’t feel that Smalltalk is sufficiently better/different than Ruby to warrant an investment in learning it.

After focusing on object oriented for twenty years, I have more of an interest in the functional world of programming languages (and multiple dispatch is cool :) ).

Update: I was just over at Hacker News and saw something I’ve seen many times before. In a nutshell, some guy was stating that Paul Graham’s success with ViaWeb had little to do with his choice of programming language (Lisp) and more to do with him just being a good hacker. In other words, he could’ve written it in any language. I’m so glad Paul responded because his response confirms my thoughts on the matter:

What a weird situation. I keep trying to tell people Lisp is great, and they say, no, no, you guys were just really good programmers. But if I’m such a good programmer, why don’t they believe me?

Paul Graham has written a lot on Lisp and is one of the main factors in me becoming interested in Lisp (along with the fact that Ruby pulled a lot of good ideas from it), but the simple quote above communicates volumes IMO.

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