Python is the most popular programming language in the TIOBE index for October 2026, at 19.23%, well ahead of C in second place at 11.33%. C++ is third at 8.87% and Java fourth at 8.41%. Python rebounded from 17.76% in September, though it's still about 5 points below its October 2025 rating. One caveat: TIOBE expanded its method this month to include Mandarin Chinese search terms, so some movement may reflect broader data rather than real shifts.
Why Python keeps winning
- AI and machine learning run on it. PyTorch, the major AI SDKs, data tooling and most research code are Python-first.
- It's the first language for students, scientists and analysts.
- It glues everything together: scripts, automation, data pipelines and APIs.
Elsewhere in the index, R moved ahead of SQL and Julia returned to the top 20, both signs of continued demand for data and scientific computing.
Should a web developer learn Python?
If you build websites with JavaScript and TypeScript (as I mostly do), you don't need to switch. But some Python pays off:
- AI features: many examples, evaluation tools and model libraries appear in Python first.
- Data work: cleaning spreadsheets, analysing orders and building reports.
- Backend services: FastAPI and Django are excellent for APIs, especially near AI or data workloads.
A common, practical architecture: a Next.js or Node.js product, with a small Python service for AI or data tasks behind an internal API.
Popularity isn't the whole story
TIOBE measures search and web presence, not how much production code exists. JavaScript and TypeScript still run most of the web's front ends, and many backends. Choose languages for the job and the team, not the leaderboard.
Picking the right tools
At NextGen Fusion, our software development company in Lucknow, we build web products in TypeScript and Next.js and bring in Python where AI or data work benefits from it.
