Language comparison site - Python ranks #8 on the A-list

[Peter Hansen]

Paul McGuire wrote:
> I just tripped over this site (http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm), and google
> shows that there has only been a brief mention of it on c.l.py in the Aug 12
> Dr. Dobb's Python-URL post, so I thought I'd pass it along for those looking
> for some quasi-quantitative Python advocacy data.
> 
> It's also interesting to look at the comparitive trend chart lower down on
> the page.  But my question is, what the heck happened in March '04?
> (Several languages showed drastic swings of several percentage points up or
> down - I suspect that this actually reflects some artifact of the data
> sampling process, perhaps a software change at Google/Yahoo that would alter
> their search outputs, which are inputs to this algorithm, which is why I
> call it "quasi-quantitative.")

Interesting reading from years past: 
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=group%3Acomp.lang.python+www.tiobe.com

(Perusing those threads again to reminisce, I discovered that the
site has variously claimed Python was an A++ language, and a
"B status language with declining popularity".)

I remain to be convinced the ranking has any more meaning than
as a marketing tool to attract people to the their site so
they can sell more services.  (Not that this is a bad thing,
for them anyway.)

-Peter