The TIOBE Index names Objective-C as the top language of 2012. Because it also earned this title in 2011, it’s only the second language to achieve this distinction twice (Python won in 2007 and narrowly beat Objective-C in 2010), and the only one to win two years in a row.
This surge in popularity is largely attributed to the success of Apple’s iOS ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, AppStore). However, Objective-C’s continued growth despite Apple relaxing its policies and the emergence of alternatives suggests other factors: perhaps developers are finding that Objective-C is a rather fun and productive language, despite its flaws?
It remains to be seen whether Objective-C’s popularity will now decline as Tiobe predicts, or if it can grow back into other areas that might benefit from its qualities.
As last year, the table and graphic from Tiobe are reproduced here since the company doesn’t seem to maintain an archive:
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Position
Jan 2013
Position
Jan 2012
Delta in Position
Programming Language
Ratings
Jan 2013
Delta
Jan 2012
Status
1
2
17.855%
+0.89%
A
2
1
17.417%
-0.05%
A
3
5
10.283%
+3.37%
A
4
4
9.140%
+1.09%
A
5
3
6.196%
-2.57%
A
6
6
5.546%
-0.16%
A
7
7
4.749%
+0.23%
A
8
8
4.173%
+0.96%
A
9
9
2.264%
-0.50%
A
10
10
1.976%
-0.34%
A
11
12
1.775%
+0.34%
A
12
24
1.043%
+0.56%
A
13
13
0.953%
-0.16%
A
14
14
0.932%
+0.14%
A
15
11
0.919%
-0.65%
A
16
17
0.651%
+0.02%
B
17
23
0.641%
+0.13%
B
18
20
0.633%
+0.07%
B
19
21
0.629%
+0.08%
B
20
72
0.613%
+0.49%
B
