The top three programming languages on the TIOBE Programming Community Index saw a major shakeup in September, as C dropped to fourth place on the list. This is the lowest score C has ever held since its first appearance at the inception of the index in 2001.
C moved from 9.17% in August to 8.89% in September. This continues the downward trend for C, which peaked at 16.56% in December 2022 and has largely fallen ever since.
The TIOBE Programming Community Index shows trends in programming languages based on search engine volume.
Why did C’s popularity fall?
“Large C programs are hard to maintain because of the lack of object oriented features,” wrote TIOBE Software CEO Paul Jansen in the monthly release of the TIOBE Index. “Now that embedded systems tend to grow in functionality and thus in code size, and since more and more embedded compilers have good C++ support, there is tendency to switch from C to C++.”
In addition, the U.S. government identified C as a memory-unsafe language. Companies may choose Rust over C in order to fit with memory-safe standards.
However, “C might lose its mojo, but it will stay in the TIOBE index top 10 for a very long time,” Jansen wrote. “Its installed base is incredible and it is part of a zillion of safety-critical systems around the world.”
C still generates performant code, Jansen noted, and has been a cornerstone of embedded systems. However, its lack of object-oriented features makes it hard to scale. C++ solves that problem.
Other changes in the TIOBE Index in September
C leaving the top three on the list made room for Java to take third place, jumping from 9.16% in August to 9.45% in September. Fortran held on to tenth place.