The TIOBE Index for July 2026 brings news long awaited by many in the developer community: Rust has entered the top 10 for the first time in its history, climbing from 18th place to 10th compared to the same period last year.
This month has a double significance — not only for Rust but also for the index itself: The TIOBE Index turns 25 years old. A quarter of a century of measuring the popularity of programming languages, during which C, C++, and Java have consistently remained in the elite ranking.
Rust in the top 10: why it matters
Rust’s entry into the top 10 is not a surprise for those following the ecosystem’s evolution. Last month, TIOBE reported records for Rust — this month, the trend has been confirmed with a concrete result.
Rust’s growing popularity comes largely from its focus on memory safety combined with extreme performance. Rust is seen as a direct competitor to C and C++, languages that continue to face challenges with explicit memory management — a classic vector of security vulnerabilities.
C and C++ are not standing still: their communities are actively working on safety mechanisms. It remains to be seen whether these efforts will be enough to counter Rust’s long-term advance.
Top 10 — July 2026
| Rank July 2026 | Rank July 2025 | Language | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Python | 18.94% | -8.03% |
| 2 | 3 | C | 10.86% | +1.22% |
| 3 | 2 | C++ | 9.12% | -0.68% |
| 4 | 4 | Java | 8.03% | -0.73% |
| 5 | 5 | C# | 4.49% | -0.38% |
| 6 | 6 | JavaScript | 2.72% | -0.63% |
| 7 | 8 | Visual Basic | 2.48% | +0.54% |
| 8 | 13 | SQL | 1.71% | +0.32% |
| 9 | 15 | R | 1.69% | +0.44% |
| 10 | 18 | Rust | 1.34% | +0.33% |
What else is worth watching in the ranking
Python dominates comfortably with 18.94%, although it registers a significant decrease of 8.03% compared to July 2025. Part of this decrease may reflect a redistribution of interest towards other languages, not necessarily a real decline in Python usage.
C rises to 2nd place, surpassing C++ compared to last year, with an increase of +1.22%. C++ drops to 3rd place with a slight decrease.
SQL and R rise strongly — SQL from 13th to 8th place, R from 15th to 9th. Both climbs reflect increased interest in data analysis and data engineering, rapidly expanding fields.
Go drops dramatically — from 7th to 13th place, a significant decline for a language considered until recently to be steadily rising. It is one of the surprise moves of this edition.
Ada also falls — from 9th to 16th place, with a decrease of 0.86%. Ada had a period of increased interest, probably related to discussions about software safety in critical systems, but enthusiasm seems to have cooled.
Swift rises from 21st to 15th place — a positive move for the Apple ecosystem, possibly related to Swift’s expansion beyond iOS and macOS.
25 years of the TIOBE Index
July 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the TIOBE Index. A quarter of a century of measurements that have documented the rise of Python, the decline of once-popular languages, and the emergence of new ones.
An interesting detail highlighted by TIOBE itself: three of the top five languages in the current ranking — C, C++, and Java — were already in the elite 25 years ago. Python entered the top 5 about a decade ago, and C# about 15 years ago.
TIOBE also announces a novelty: a Programming Language Flowchart, a practical guide to help developers choose the right language for their specific case — an implicit recognition of the limitation the index itself admits: it measures popularity, not quality or suitability for a particular context.
What this means for you as a .NET developer
C# remains stable in 5th place with 4.49%, a solid position that confirms the continued relevance of the .NET ecosystem. The slight decrease of 0.38% is negligible in the context of a highly competitive top 5.
Rust’s entry into the top 10 is also relevant for the .NET community — Microsoft has invested significantly in integrating Rust into infrastructure projects, and there is a clear trend of adopting memory safety principles in the C# ecosystem as well, through features like Span<T>, ref struct, and ongoing improvements to unsafe code.
The July 2026 ranking confirms that the programming language market is maturing but not stabilizing — movements like Rust’s rise or Go’s decline show that the landscape remains dynamic and that today’s technology choices will influence the skills sought tomorrow.
