Python 2nd favorite language in Linux Journal poll

[beliavsky at aol.com]

Linux Journal annually polls its readers on questions such as their
favorite programming language. In the 2005 poll, Python is 2nd, its
highest ranking ever. Below are the results by year. I wish that
rankings beyond the first 3 were available and that the number of votes
were shown. Nerds like numbers, not journalist blather :). I found this
data for earlier years by Googling

"linux journal <yyyy> readers choice awards".

2005
1. C++
2. Python
3. PHP

2004
Favorite Programming Language
1. C
2. Perl
3. C++

Ah, favorite programming language-time for a flame war. A bit of a
shake-up this year: after being knocked out of first place last year, C
reclaims it this year and C++ drops to third. The P language in the top
three is Perl, while PHP slips to fourth place, closely followed by
Python. The voting was close this year, too; only 59 votes separated C
from C++.

2003
Favorite Programming Language
1. C++
2. C
3. PHP
Quick, everyone to your keyboard: the flame war begins in 5, 4, 3,
2....In a reversal of last year's winner and runner-up, C++ moved into
first place in 2003 by a mere 23 votes. Perl, meanwhile, got kicked out
of the top three for the first time in the history of our awards.
Continuing the C theme, C# is the favorite write-in vote.

2002
Favorite Programming Language
1. C
2. C++
3. Perl

C++ kicked Perl out of the second-favorite position this year, and only
17 votes kept C++ out of the top spot. In its first year on the
``official'' list, Kylix/Object Pascal came in fourth. Following that
was a close vote spread between PHP, Java and Python, in that order.
One quite reasonable voter wrote in that he uses ``whichever is best
for the project''. And to the voter who felt bad about preferring bash
shell scripting, don't worry, you're not alone.

2001
Favorite Programming Language
1. C
2. Perl
3. C++

Here's another category where we took your advice from last year and
split C/C++ into separate categories because, hey, they're not the
same. Java and PHP finish out the top five, with Python just missing
out by 15 votes. Kylix/Object Pascal had a strong write-in showing,
over 200 votes.

2000
1. C/C++
2. Perl
3. Java

``Plain C (without the ++).''

The perennial C/C++ wins 40% of your votes this year. To everyone who
took the time to remind us that C and C++ are not the same language, we
hear you loud and clear. Second and third place go to Perl and Java,
while Python continues to expand its fan base by claiming 8%.

1999
1. C/C++
2. Perl
3. Java

``Something wants to make me vote for Logo... but I'll spare you. :)''

The old UNIX standard--the closest thing we have to a cross-platform
assembler--wins nearly half the vote at 49.4%. We'll have to split C
and C++ next year; we received countless ``I hate C++'' comments, a
sentiment shared by nearly everyone who voted. Perl had an excellent
showing, with 20.6% of the vote, compared to the up-and-coming Python
which scored 4%. At 9.5%, Java appears to have become rather popular,
and a concerted effort from PHP enthusiasts managed to score it 4.6%.
Emacs (meaning ELisp, probably) received a large number of write-ins.
Doesn't anyone use assembly code anymore?

1998
1. Perl
2. Tcl/Tk