Python and R: The Most Popular Data Science Languages
Instead of intro
As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of data science, it’s crucial to keep an eye on the trends shaping the industry. In this article, we’ll AGAIN delve into the monthly rates of popularity and usage of two key data science languages, Python and R, as of July 2023.
Traditional disclaimer: Please note that it is evident Python is more widespread than R, and it would be unreasonable to suggest otherwise. While I consider R to be an excellent, albeit niche, tool, it is crucial to monitor both tools since they offer similar functionalities within the data science subfield. And I pray for both 🫶
Credits: Unsplash | Zdeněk MacháčekTIOBE Index Insights
The TIOBE index for July 2023 continues to highlight Python’s dominance in the programming world. Despite a slight decrease of 0.01% from the previous month, Python maintains its top position with a rating of 13.42%. As the previous month, as last year…As always, basically.
TIOBE index as of 16.07.2023
Python’s popularity can be attributed to and supported by its growing use in data science and artificial intelligence, bolstered by its ease of use, extensive libraries, and strong community support. By the way, if you want to know more about why Python is that huge nowadays, here the Datacamp’s Guide on how to learn Python, which summarises some of the main reasons. Datacamp has also provided a set of estimates for time frames, required to master the languages we love: Python and R.
Datacamp’s estimate of the languages’ complexity
So… From a beginner’s perspective, the learning path for Python, R and even Julia are more or less equivalent.
The niche R language, another language popular in the data science community, is known for its statistical computing capabilities. In TIOBE, R is currently ranked 19th with a rating of 0.87%, marking an increase of 0.11% from the previous month. Although R may not enjoy the same level of popularity as Python, it continues to hold a substantial position within the realm of data science, especially among statisticians and researchers requiring intricate statistical analysis or the creation of visually compelling data representations.
Interestingly, the TIOBE index also notes that C++ is on the rise, potentially surpassing C soon. JavaScript has reached an all-time high at position #6, indicating a growing interest in web development languages, which is a pretty interesting trend.
PYPL Insights
According to the PYPL index as of July 2023, which is created by analyzing how often language tutorials are searched on Google, Python continues to hold the top position with a share of 27.43%, despite a slight decrease of 0.2% over the past year. This further cements Python’s status as the go-to language for many in the field of data science, thanks to its simplicity and the powerful libraries it offers for data manipulation and analysis. That is just a fact, just accept it 🤷
R currently holds the 7th place with a share of 4.45%, marking a slight increase of 0.1% over the past year. This indicates that R continues to be a popular choice among data scientists, particularly those involved in statistical analysis and data visualization.
PYPL index as of 16.07.2023
Other trends to watch: some of the other languages listed in the PYPL index. Java, JavaScript, and C# follow Python in the rankings, with shares of 16.19%, 9.4%, and 6.77% respectively. Meanwhile, newer languages like TypeScript, Swift, and Rust are also gaining traction, with Rust showing a significant increase of 0.6% over the past year.
Stack Overflow Insights
On Stack Overflow, Python-related questions accounted for approximately 14% of total questions in July 2023, a decrease from the beginning of the year, which is a constant state for this website. As I have already said earlir, I attribute this decrease to the rise of AI solutions like ChatGPT, which have reduced the need for people to seek help on Stack Overflow. R-related questions, on the other hand, comprised between 3.00% and 3.30%, roughly the same as the previous month. Same pattern whole year.
StackOverflow index as of 17.06.2023
Also, StackOverflow has published the results of their Developer Survey 2023, which shows that Python is third by popularity, while R is 21st. Python’s popularity is still growing, professional developers use it more often than SQL this year.
Wrap-up
Python and R continue to be essential tools in the data scientist’s toolkit. Despite the emergence and growth of other languages, Python and R’s combination of power, flexibility, and ease of use make them hard to beat for data science applications. Join our army of fans and followers!
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- This blog post was originally published at: https://blog.devgenius.io
