Some interesting metrics of programming language popularity.
- LangPop.com – statistics on greping search queries on various web properties — usage in open source projects, books published on Amazon.com, etc.
- TIOBE index – similar listing, of search engine results exclusively. Longer tail listing, and shows trending.
- Happiest users – this one is just a static blog post, but takes the additional dimension of not just frequency of posts, but the satisfaction level being expressed. The data set is absymally small — I hope eventually another group will follow up with a more comprehensive analysis of more languages, and more satisfaction dimensions.
Usage data might be more interesting or ‘scientific’ (number of statements executing, new applications/modules shipped, etc). However, ‘mindshare’ is itself an interesting dimension, as the technical merits of programming languages are typical less considered than social pressures and perception.