3 ms·

According to [this](https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/09/06/incredible-growth-python/ https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/09/06/incredible-growth-pyth...) Stack Overf

According to [this](https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/09/06/incredible-growth-python/ https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/09/06/incredible-growth-pyth...) Stack Overflow study: "Python stands alone as a tag that is both large and growing rapidly; the next-largest tag that shows similar growth is R."

danieldk 9y ago
I would really be careful to use StackOverflow statistics as a proxy of language popularity. There are many ways that Python's relative popularity compared to Java on StackOverflow can be explained. For example: Python is used more by hobbyist programmers, hence more questions about it. Or: Java is taught in many universities, so people generally have fewer questions about Java. If you go outside this filter bubble and look at the large IT companies, such as IBM, Oracle, Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, SAP, etc. they are all JVM/.NET shops. Also, on job sites such as Indeed, there are more Java jobs than Python jobs (currently respectively ~60,000 vs. 47,000 in the US) [1]. Note, I am not denying that Python is popular. Python is immensely popular. And I definitely like the Python ecosystem more than the Java ecosystem. I was just contending that the original statement that Python is the most successful language in the last 20 years is concorrect. Java is younger and is (still) more widely used in companies. Of course, Python may or may not surpass Java some day. [1] Also, the positions mentioning Java often require that an applicant knows Java, whereas ads with Python often have wording such as "dynamic languages such as Javascript, Ruby, Python, and Perl are preferred".
- smoe 9y ago
  I wouldn't argue that Java is a lot bigger than Python in real world adaption. But the Stackoverflow graph that was posted above looks at growth over the last past 5 years. I have been working with Python for 12 years and only in the last few did I get the impression that it is a popular language. For example when I'm interviewing candidates for a junior dev position, pretty much all of them have at least some Python experience from University, whereas when I started all the fellow Python programmers either learned it on the job or in their spare time. I do agree that StackOverflow isn't a good proxy, but I could image Python getting more new regular users than Java at the moment.

danieldk 9y ago

I would really be careful to use StackOverflow statistics as a proxy of language popularity. There are many ways that Python's relative popularity compared to Java on StackOverflow can be explained. For example: Python is used more by hobbyist programmers, hence more questions about it. Or: Java is taught in many universities, so people generally have fewer questions about Java. If you go outside this filter bubble and look at the large IT companies, such as IBM, Oracle, Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, SAP, etc. they are all JVM/.NET shops. Also, on job sites such as Indeed, there are more Java jobs than Python jobs (currently respectively ~60,000 vs. 47,000 in the US) [1]. Note, I am not denying that Python is popular. Python is immensely popular. And I definitely like the Python ecosystem more than the Java ecosystem. I was just contending that the original statement that Python is the most successful language in the last 20 years is concorrect. Java is younger and is (still) more widely used in companies. Of course, Python may or may not surpass Java some day. [1] Also, the positions mentioning Java often require that an applicant knows Java, whereas ads with Python often have wording such as "dynamic languages such as Javascript, Ruby, Python, and Perl are preferred".

smoe 9y ago
I wouldn't argue that Java is a lot bigger than Python in real world adaption. But the Stackoverflow graph that was posted above looks at growth over the last past 5 years. I have been working with Python for 12 years and only in the last few did I get the impression that it is a popular language. For example when I'm interviewing candidates for a junior dev position, pretty much all of them have at least some Python experience from University, whereas when I started all the fellow Python programmers either learned it on the job or in their spare time. I do agree that StackOverflow isn't a good proxy, but I could image Python getting more new regular users than Java at the moment.