Comparison of programming languages

The following table compares general and technical information for the most popular programming languages as determined by the TIOBE Programming Community index. Less popular programming languages may be added as well. PHP, Javascript, SAS, PL/SQL, Visual FoxPro, Lisp/Scheme, and VB.NET are among the most popular and will be added as soon as possible. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.

Language	General model of execution	Influences	Principal paradigm	Typing discipline	Introduced	Popularity[1]	Usage trend[2]
Ada	Compilation	Algol, Pascal, C++ (Ada 95), Smalltalk (Ada 95)	multi-paradigm: concurrent, distributed, generic-programming, imperative, object-oriented	static, strong, safe, nominative	1983	18	0
Visual Basic	?	QuickBASIC	?	?	1991	5	+1
C	Compilation	Algol, BCPL	Structured, Procedural, Flow-driven	Static, weak	Early 1970	2	-1
C++	Compilation	C, Simula, Algol 68	Principly Object-oriented, multiple paradigms	Static, weak	1979	3	+1
C#	Compilation	Java, C++	structured, imperative	dynamic, strong, both safe and unsafe, nominative	2001	7	0
COBOL	Compilation	?	?	?	1959	15	-1
ColdFusion	Compilation	?	?	?	1995	16	+9
D	Compilation	C++	?	?	2000	19	+8
Delphi/Kylix	?	?	?	?	1995	10	-1
Java	Interpretation/JIT compilation/Dynamic compilation	C++, Objective-C	Object-oriented	Static, strong	1996	1	+1
Perl	?	C, shell, awk, sed, lisp	?	Dynamic	1987	6	-3
Python	Interpretation	ABC, Perl	Object-oriented	Dynamic, strong	1990	8	0
Ruby	Interpretation	Smalltalk, Perl	Object-oriented	?	1995	20	+10

1. ^ From the first column of the May, 2006 TIOBE Programming Community Index. Languages are ranked sequentially from most popular to least popular based on the world-wide availability of skilled engineers, courses, and third party vendors. Google, MSN, and Yahoo are used to calculate the rank. In determining popularity for a language, the language may include or exclude other languages or derivatives. See what languages are included or excluded in the Groupings and exceptions chart below or here.
2. ^ From the Delta in Position column of the May, 2006 TIOBE Programming Community Index. This number indicates the language's change in popularity over the last year. In determining the usage trend for a language, the language may include or exclude other languages or derivatives. See what languages are included or excluded in the Groupings and exceptions chart below or here.

Exceptions and inclusions used in determining Popularity and Usage trend

Language	Exceptions/Inclusions
Awk	Included: awk, gawk, mawk, nawk
C#	Included: C#, C-Sharp, C Sharp
ColdFusion	Included: ColdFusion, Cold Fusion, CFMX, CFML
D	Exception: "3-D Programming"
Delphi/Kylix	Included: Delphi, Kylix
IDL	Exception: "corba"
Lisp/Scheme	Included: Lisp, Scheme
Python	Included: Python, Jython, IronPython (Jan Persson)
T-SQL	Included: T-SQL, Transact-SQL
Tcl/Tk	Included: Tcl/Tk, Tcl, Tk
VB.NET	Included: VB.NET, Visual Basic.NET, Visual Basic .NET, Visual Basic 2005, VB 2005
Visual FoxPro	Included: FoxPro, Fox Pro, VFP