The world’s most popular programming language is losing market share to more specialized languages such as R and Perl, Tiobe says. Credit: oneinchpunch / Shutterstock Python still holds the top ranking in the monthly Tiobe index of programming language popularity, leading by more than 10 percentage points over second-place C. But Python’s popularity actually has declined over the past six months, from a high market share of 26.98% last July to 21.81% in this month’s Tiobe index. The shift, Tiobe CEO Paul Jansen said, suggests that several more specialized or domain-specific languages are gradually gaining ground at Python’s expense, most notably R and Perl. R, a programming language for statistical computing, has long been a direct competitor to Python in the field of data science, Jansen said. R is ranked eighth this month with a 2.19% rating, but was ranked 15th one year ago. While Python overtook R in recent years, R appears to be regaining momentum and has re-entered the Tiobe index top 10 for several consecutive months, Jansen said. At the same time, Perl has returned to prominence in the scripting realm. Once the undisputed leader in scripting, Perl declined after years of internal fragmentation and competition from newer languages, Jansen said. Recently, however, the language has staged a comeback, rising to 10th in the Tiobe index in September 2025 from 27th a year earlier. Perl ranks 11th in the index this month, with a 1.67% rating, having risen from 30th this time last year. The monthly Tiobe Programming Community index serves as an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. Ratings are based on a formula that assesses the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-party vendors pertinent to a language. Ratings are calculated by examining websites including Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Bing, and more than 20 others. The Tiobe index top 10 for February 26: Python, 21.81% C, 11.05% C++, 8.55% Java, 8.12% C#, 6.83% JavaScript, 2.92% Visual Basic, 2.85% R, 2.19% SQL, 1.93% Delphi/Object Pascal, 1.88% The rival Pypl Popularity of Programming Language index assesses language popularity by analyzing how often language tutorials are searched on in Google. The Pypl index top 10 for February 2026: Python, 31.17% C/C++, 14.96% Java, 10.46% R, 6.88% JavaScript, 5.05% Swift, 3.92% Rust, 3.19% C#, 3.19% PHP, 3.14% Ada, 2.81% Programming LanguagesPythonSoftware DevelopmentR Language