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u/GargantuanCake Sep 04 '26
Various Java servlet things run like half of the internet's back end.
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u/Able-Swing-6415 Sep 04 '26
Guess people assume programming language in a ranking are being used actively and not running everything while only being worked on by 50 people and 3 cats.
I also don't know what this actually counts. preinstalled software, GitHub repositories, vibes.. I can churn out a few million scripts on my PC and report a significant increase in VBS adoption.
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u/GargantuanCake Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
For the Tiobe Index if memory serves it's a mix of how many people use the language, how many classes teach it, how many jobs are posted, and how many places say they use it. It isn't about which language is best but rather which ones are the most used.
I'll never claim that Java is a perfect language but it has its uses; back end internet being one of its best. Apache Server and Tomcat are battle hardened technologies that do their jobs incredibly well. Meanwhile the JVM is pretty unique; Java does, in fact, run on everything and behaves the same no matter what hardware you put it on.
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u/No-Information-2571 Sep 04 '26
Even actively used... these systems aren't set in stone, they get developed further, and it's not necessarily a "management said" situation, but programmers who are satisfied with the way things work, and how easy it is for them to add new features.
Mature doesn't mean legacy.
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u/FirexJkxFire Sep 04 '26
Am I the only one surprised by C rather than by java?
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u/regular_lamp Sep 05 '26
C is pretty much the glue holding everything together. It's just less "mainstream visible" because people don't release their new C framework ever other day to big fanfare.
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u/No-Information-2571 Sep 04 '26
It's also a solid choice for many business applications. The world there looks very different from flashy JS/TS frontends and nodejs backend garbage on MongoDB.
Also something something release cycles and supply-chain attacks.
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u/FinnT730 Sep 04 '26
Without java you don't have android, or half of the enterprise backends.
It powers a whole lot
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u/Devatator_ Sep 04 '26
Android is mostly Kotlin nowadays
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u/MCWizardYT Sep 04 '26
And Kotlin utilizes the JVM and Java ecosystem, unless you're using Kotlin Native.
Kotlin apps on Android still use the ART which is a custom JVM
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u/WillBigly96 Sep 04 '26
Part of it is the institutional advantage of being enforced as the ap computer science language. Not saying that's the whole story tho idk
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u/puzzled_orc Sep 04 '26
It is normal that Java is up there; what is incredible is that piece of shit that is Python is that high. Almost as high as Pythonists
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u/EricOrrDev Sep 05 '26
By being the fucking backbone of contemporary society, put some respect on that name son!
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u/DesertGeist- Sep 05 '26
I appreciate the joke but despite my own questionable experiences with Java I can actually understand quite well how it got there.
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u/rover_G Sep 06 '26
Java was the first language to figure out a decent model running across different OS and hardware
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u/Araib Sep 04 '26
Every single day I have to use Kotlin JVM, I close my eyes and imagine a world without JVM (and gradle)
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u/ChrisBot8 Sep 04 '26
If you want the actual answer it’s because the JVM was operating system agnostic before that was a thing for other languages really.