Fortran was in the top 10 of the TIOBE Shows Neighborhood Index in April and May, prompting a question from the TIOBE community. Why is this programming language, developed in 1957, popular once again in 2024? Otherwise, there hasn’t been much movement in the top 10 rankings compared to last month.
The TIOBE Programs Community Index reveals patterns in shows languages based on search engine volume.
Trends year-over-year from the TIOBE
Programs Neighborhood Index. Image: TIOBE Software Why Fortran is back in TIOBE’s leading 10 TIOBE Software CEO Paul Jansen kept in mind there are numerous reasons that Fortran is popular once again.
Initially, Fortran is particularly proficient at mathematical analysis and computational mathematics. Numerical and mathematical computing is growing since interest in artificial intelligence is growing, Jansen told TechRepublic in an email.
“All those designs need to be determined,” Jansen stated.
Fortran has some advantages over the other programs languages that can be utilized in numerical and mathematical computing. Jansen wrote in the May update of the index: “Python: choice primary, however sluggish, MATLAB: very simple to utilize for mathematical calculation but it includes expensive licenses, C/C++: mainstream and quick, but they have no native mathematical calculation support, R: very comparable to Python, however less popular and sluggish, Julia: the increasing new kid on the block, however not fully grown yet.” For that reason, Fortran is a reasonably economical, quick and flexible choice.
Second, Fortran is restoring popularity in the area of image processing, such as that used in gaming and medical imaging, he said.
Fortran is still being updated; the ISO Fortran 2023 specification meaning was released in November 2023.
The age-old language is “fast, having native mathematical computation support, mature, and totally free of charge,” Jansen stated.
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Other changes in the TIOBE Index in May
Somewhere else in the TIOBE leading 10, Python, C and C++ comfortably keep their spots in the leading three. Last month, Jansen predicted PHP’s appeal would fade, and he was right. PHP sat at 1.09% appeal in April and 0.97% in May, continuing its downward pattern. PHP fell from number 8 to number 16 over the last year.
