Fast Programming Languages Are In Demand

Fast programming languages are gaining popularity, TIOBE CEO Paul Jansen said in the TIOBE Programming Community Index in February. Fast programming languages he called out include C++, Go, and Rust.

Also, according to the updated TIOBE rankings:

• Python, to which Jansen awarded the title “TIOBE’s programming language of the year 2024” in January, continued to skyrocket.
• C++ held onto its place at second from the top of the leaderboard.
• Mojo and Zig are following trajectories likely to bring them into the top 50, and reached #51 and #56 respectively in February.

The TIOBE Programming Community Index shows trends in programming languages based on search engine volume.

Trends year-over-year from the TIOBE Programming Community Index. Python is the light blue trend line. Image: TIOBE Software

Speed of programs matters in 2025

“Now that the world needs to crunch more and more numbers per second, and hardware is not evolving fast enough, speed of programs is getting important. Having said this, it is not surprising that the fast programming languages are gaining ground in the TIOBE index,” Jansen wrote.

SEE: The U.K. government offers a Cyber Code of Practice to help businesses mitigate risks from generative AI. 

The need for speed helped Mojo and Zig rise into the top 50.

Rust reached its all-time high in the proprietary points system (1.47%.), and Jansen expects Go to be a common sight in the top 10 going forward.

Python’s popularity shows no sign of decreasing

As can be seen from the image above, Python continued on an upward streak it has traveled since 2017. In particular, Python has risen rapidly in the points system since June 2024. Python isn’t a fast language, Jansen pointed out, so why is it still so popular?

As generative AI increases the demand for crunching numbers, more programmers need to do the human parts of that work. As Jansen said in the TIOBE Index for January 2025, Python is so popular as to be considered the “undisputed default language of choice.” So, that popularity compounds as more people choose to learn it.

“Since the number of graduated software engineers is lower than is needed, all kind of non-software engineers are jumping on the programming bandwagon, and their favorite language is Python,” Jansen wrote. “This is why Python is here to stay.”