The latest rankings of the most popular programming languages highlight MATLAB’s exit from the top 20, while Perl and COBOL make a comeback.
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MATLAB Exits the Top 20 for the First Time in Ten Years
The month of August is marked by a rare event: MATLAB’s departure from the top 20. This is the first time in over a decade that the numerical computing language has fallen to the 25th position. Paul Jansen, CEO of TIOBE Software, sees this as the start of a sustained decline rather than a mere hiccup.
According to the executive, the requirement to pay for a license to use the software is to blame. “In a world where most programming languages are free, having to pay for a MATLAB license is becoming an increasingly significant disadvantage,” explains Paul Jansen. MATLAB shares this characteristic with Delphi, the only other language in the top 20 that relies on a paid license. Jansen also points to the language’s lack of evolution as a second factor.
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While languages like Python, C++, Rust, and even newer ones continue to introduce modern features and paradigms, MATLAB increasingly seems to belong to another era.
TIOBE also highlights two other languages, OCaml and Zig, which have shown steady progress over several months and might enter the top 20 in the medium term.
The Top 20 Programming Languages in August 2026
At the top of the list, changes are rare. Python remains in first place, despite a significant decline over the year (-7.61%), followed by C and C++, which have swapped their positions since August 2025. Java and C# round out the unchanged top 5. Further down, SQL (8th), R (9th), and Rust (10th) continue their recent surge and maintain their top 10 status.
Significant movements are concentrated in the lower half of the table. Ruby climbs ten spots over the year and Swift eight, while Perl and COBOL re-enter the top 20. Conversely, Go continues its descent and ranks 14th, far from its top 10 position a year ago.
Here are the 20 most popular programming languages among developers in August 2026:
- Python (= same position as in August 2025)
- C (+1)
- C++ (-1)
- Java (=)
- C# (=)
- JavaScript (=)
- Visual Basic (=)
- SQL (+4)
- R (+5)
- Rust (+8)
- Delphi/Object Pascal (-1)
- Scratch (+5)
- PHP (+2)
- Go (-6)
- Fortran (-4)
- Ruby (+10)
- Swift (+8)
- Perl (-9)
- COBOL (+3)
- Assembly language (=)
What are the TIOBE Index Ranking Criteria?
The TIOBE Index has been around since 2002. Updated monthly, it measures the popularity of programming languages based on the volume of search queries related to them on about twenty search engines, including Google, Wikipedia, Bing, and Amazon. The ranking does not claim to identify the best language, nor the one that produces the most code, but rather the one that generates the most interest.
It serves primarily as a tool for monitoring trends. “This index helps verify if your programming skills are up-to-date or to make a strategic decision about which programming language to adopt,” TIOBE explains.
