Python ranks first in both IEEE Spectrum’s 2025 default Spectrum ranking and its Jobs ranking. JavaScript dropped from third place in 2024 to sixth in 2025. These results are useful snapshots of different kinds of programming-language activity—not a census of every programmer or a universal measure of which language is “best.”
What IEEE Spectrum’s rankings measure
IEEE Spectrum has published annual interactive programming-language rankings since 2013. Its 2025 edition compares 64 languages using proxy signals, because no single source can capture every programmer’s activity. The methodology describes three views, each intended to answer a different question:
- Spectrum: a view of active use among typical IEEE members and working software engineers. IEEE says active use includes maintaining legacy systems.
- Jobs: a view of employer demand for language skills.
- Trending: a view of current zeitgeist interest.
A language can perform differently across these views because they emphasize different signals and apply different weights. A high position therefore does not mean the language leads every measure of use, hiring, or attention.
What the 2025 results say
| Result | What IEEE Spectrum reports |
|---|---|
| Spectrum ranking | Python is #1. |
| Jobs ranking | Python is #1, up from #2 the previous year. |
| JavaScript | Sixth in 2025, down from third in 2024. |
| SQL | IEEE Spectrum describes SQL as an especially valuable skill to have on a résumé. |
These are positions in specific IEEE Spectrum views, not a direct count of how many people use each language. The available results establish the positions above; they do not provide a full ranked list here, so they should not be used to infer other languages’ exact places.
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How IEEE Spectrum builds the ranking
The 2025 project used seven manually collected metrics, gathered in July and August 2025. IEEE Spectrum names signals including Google search traffic, Stack Exchange questions, research-paper mentions, and GitHub activity. Its methodology also describes books, Discord, and job listings as relevant signal categories.
For each metric, results were normalized to a relative score from 0 to 1, multiplied by weights, combined, and normalized again. The weights are subjective and vary by view, so Spectrum, Jobs, and Trending do not treat every signal as equally important. The methodology describes a global dimension using non-U.S. IEEE Job Site listings and a U.S. dimension using CareerBuilder developer postings.
This design makes the ranking a structured comparison of selected indicators, not a representative probability sample of all programmers. Search interest, online questions, hiring ads, and code-hosting activity each reflect only part of language use; they also respond to factors beyond the number of people actively programming in a language.
Why the AI caveat matters
IEEE Spectrum reports that public signals are weakening as programmers turn to private LLM chats and AI coding assistants. One concrete example: weekly Stack Exchange questions across the evaluated languages in 2025 were 22 percent of their 2024 level, according to IEEE Spectrum. A decline in public questions makes cross-language comparisons harder because one visible source of activity has become less informative.
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That figure is about Stack Exchange questions across the evaluated languages, not a measured 78 percent fall in programming or language use. IEEE Spectrum’s discussion of AI is an interpretation of why public signals may be changing and a warning about future measurement; it does not establish that AI tools caused the entire decline or specify how much they changed any language’s rank.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use the ranking as a programmer
- If you want a broad active-use signal, look at the Spectrum view, while remembering that its population is approximated through proxies.
- If you are choosing a skill for job applications, the Jobs view is the most directly relevant of the three, but its listings are not a complete census of hiring in every country or sector.
- If you want to gauge current attention, use Trending rather than treating the default ranking as a trend chart.
- If you are deciding what to learn, combine the view that matches your goal with the actual requirements of roles, projects, or systems you care about. A rank alone cannot tell you whether a language suits a particular task.
Python’s two first-place results make it a strong performer in the 2025 Spectrum and Jobs views. They do not prove that Python is the right choice for every learner or project, and JavaScript’s lower position does not by itself imply that its use or hiring demand collapsed.
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