

2010 Google Trends for python, ruby, and php   - smharris65
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2C%20ruby%2C%20php&cmpt=q

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antirez
The graphs change a lot searching for "PHP array" VS "Python array" VS "Ruby
array":

[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20array%2Cruby%20array%2Cphp%20array&cmpt=q)

Possibly comparing a search that is about what a real user could type into the
search engine is more accurate, and filters out other stuff like all the
search for "Python" as animal.

Edit: btw using "hash" instead of "array" changes the results a lot:
[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20hash%2Cruby%20hash&cmpt=q)

~~~
amix
[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20list%2Cruby%20list%2Cphp%20array&cmpt=q)
\- in Python "arrays" are called lists...

~~~
antirez
Thanks amix, not in Ruby so the final link could be this:

[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20list%2Cruby%20array%2Cphp%20array&cmpt=q)

~~~
brettnak
Actually, since a PHP array is more like a combination of a python list and a
python dictionary or a ruby hash and a ruby array, this is the best
comparison:
[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20list%20%2B%20python%20dictionary%2Cruby%20array%20%2B%20ruby%20hash%2Cphp%20array&cmpt=q)

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sjs
Pointless graph. Ignores the way people look for info on their language. PHP
is well documented so PHP users just go to php.net and know the docs will be
there. I like the feel of Python and Ruby more than PHP but you don't have to
look at Google Trends to know that PHP is far, _far_ more popular than Python
and Ruby combined.

~~~
swolchok
Python is well documented so Python users just go to <http://docs.python.org/>
. Don't know about Ruby, but I suspect you could make that argument about any
language.

~~~
sjs
Yes Python also has great docs. Ruby not so much. There's a command line tool
for viewing Ruby docs called ri that I imagine many Rubyists use more than
ruby-lang.org.

(Ruby's docs improved when Programming Ruby was first written but since then I
haven't noticed any significant effort to further improve them. I reach for
one of my Programming Ruby books or PDFs before going to <http://ruby-
lang.org> , might just be me but I doubt it!)

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nickmerwin
"ruby on rails" vs "django" has a much different take:

[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=django%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=django%2Cruby%20on%20rails&cmpt=q)

I always wondered why Python consistently ranks higher than Ruby outside of
the webapp sphere. Could it be the scientific/academic community's interest in
Python's superior number crunching?

~~~
vlad
Libraries.

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ice_man
If the numbers in these charts are relative to the total number searches on
Google, then it could just mean that the ratio of programming searches to non-
programming searches is decreasing, (i.e. if more non-programmers are using
Google, or if people don't use their phones to search for programming-related
concepts on Google.)

~~~
fauigerzigerk
I think you're absolutely right. I've been thinking the same ever since I
started to look at programming language usage on google trends and found that
almost all of them are going down most of the time.

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jwecker
I learned from this that Cuba is creating a secret army of rubyless
programmers that it will at some point unleash upon the world.

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chris123
See this "TIOBE Programming Community Index for December 2009":
[http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index....](http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html)

It ranks the top 20 languages. Subtitle: "December Headline: All time highs
for C#, Objective-C and ActionScript"

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jordibunster
[http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%2...](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=31&q=python%20developer%2Cruby%20developer%2Cphp%20developer%2Cjava%20developer&cmpt=q)

"foo developer"

Look at how Java is in decline. Also, check the map to see where most queries
for Java and PHP come from.

~~~
dws
Peter Norvig points out elsewhere that some apparent "declines" can be
explained away by a growing population of non-technical web searchers.

