MATLAB programming language sinking in popularity

MATLAB programming language sinking in popularity | InfoWorld

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by Paul Krill

Editor at Large

MATLAB programming language sinking in popularity

news

Aug 10, 20263 mins

MATLAB, a programming and numeric computation environment for engineers and scientists is sinking in popularity, according to the latest edition of the Tiobe index of programming language popularity.

In the Tiobe index for August 2026, published August 8, MATLAB is ranked 25th, having fallen out of the top 20 for the first time in more than 10 years. “Is this just a temporary dip, or is it the beginning of a more permanent decline? Personally, I believe MATLAB’s days are numbered,” said Paul Jansen, CEO at Tiobe. One important reason for the decline may be MATLAB’s licensing model. “In a world where most programming languages are freely available, having to pay for a MATLAB license is becoming an increasingly significant disadvantage,” Jansen said.

Another reason for MATLAB’s decline is that the language has not evolved as much as other mainstream programming languages, according to Tiobe. “While languages such as Python, C++, Rust, and even newer languages continue to introduce modern language features and programming paradigms, MATLAB can increasingly feel like a language from another era,” Jansen said.

The Tiobe Programming Community index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. Ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses, and third-party vendors. Popular websites including Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Bing, and more than 20 others are used to calculate the ratings.

The Tiobe index top 10 for August 2026:

Python, 18.53%

C, 11.10%

C++, 8.62%

Java, 8.25%

C#, 4.09%

JavaScript, 2.63%

Visual Basic, 2.18%

SQL, 1.88%

R, 1.56%

Rust, 1.45%

The Pypl Popularity of Language Index is an alternative measure of language popularity based on how often languages are searched on Google.

The Pypl index top 10 for August 2026:

Python, 50.00%

Java, 12.8%

C/C++, 8.57%

R, 4.18%

JavaScript, 3.52%

Objective-C, 3.01%

PHP, 2.06%

Rust, 1.86%

C#, 1.74%

Swift, 1.68%

Programming LanguagesSoftware Development

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by Paul Krill

Editor at Large

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Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

MATLAB programming language sinking in popularity

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