Having fallen from third, Java is now in fourth place, growing 1.55%. "The reason for C++'s popularity is its excellent performance while being a high level object-oriented language.

"However, for C and C++ there is one small threat arising on the horizon: the programming language Rust. Rust re-entered the top 20 again with an all-time high market share of 0.70%.

Elsewhere in the TIOBE Index, the programming language Go rose to position seven, a year-over-year doubling of its spot in the rankings. Rust reached an all-time high of 17th place.