In a surprising turn of events, older programming languages Fortran and Delphi are making a comeback, according to the latest Tiobe index of programming language popularity. The two "dinosaur" languages are competing for a top 10 spot, with Delphi/Object Pascal ranking 10th and Fortran 11th in the March 2025 index. This resurgence is attributed to the need to maintain vital legacy systems still dependent on these languages.

Tiobe CEO Paul Jansen notes that the rise of these older languages is due to the many vital legacy systems that keep the world running, which were developed with the aid of these languages. As the last of the core developers of these systems are about to retire, companies are choosing to maintain and extend the existing systems rather than replacing them with newer systems based on more modern languages. Jansen emphasizes that these languages have evolved and are now pretty up-to-date.

The Tiobe index ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-party vendors pertinent to a language. This is calculated using data from Google, Bing, Amazon, Wikipedia, and over 20 other websites. The top 10 languages in the March 2025 Tiobe index are Python, C++, Java, C, C#, JavaScript, Go, SQL, Visual Basic, and Delphi/Object Pascal.

In contrast, the Pypl Popularity of Programming Language index, which ranks languages by analyzing how often they are searched on Google, has a slightly different top 10. The Pypl index top 10 for March 2025 includes Python, Java, JavaScript, C/C++, C#, R, PHP, Rust, TypeScript, and Objective-C.

The comeback of Fortran and Delphi highlights the importance of legacy systems and the need for companies to maintain and update them. This trend also underscores the significance of these older languages in keeping critical infrastructure running. As the technology landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these legacy languages adapt and remain relevant.

The rise of Fortran and Delphi also raises questions about the future of programming languages and how they will be used in the development of new systems. Will these older languages continue to play a vital role, or will newer languages eventually replace them? Only time will tell, but for now, it's clear that Fortran and Delphi are making a comeback.

For more information on the Tiobe index and the Pypl Popularity of Programming Language index, visit their respective websites. Stay tuned for further updates on the evolving landscape of programming languages.