C remains one of the most visible programming languages in long-term rankings, developer surveys, and public software activity. Its recent numbers show a language with a strong historical position, substantial use among learners and professionals, and a continuing presence on GitHub.
Contents
- Current language rankings
- C’s long-term TIOBE history
- C compared with C++ and C#
- GitHub activity in 2024
- C usage by developer group
- What the measures show
Current language rankings
The January 2026 TIOBE table placed C at #2, with a rating of 10.99% and a year-over-year change of +2.13%. Python ranked #1 at 22.61%, while Java ranked #3 at 8.71%. These are TIOBE index ratings and rankings for that specific January 2026 table, not a count of developers or a direct measurement of lines written in C.
The same table placed C++ at #4, with an 8.67% rating and a year-over-year change of -1.62%. C# ranked #5 at 7.39%, with a year-over-year change of +2.94%. JavaScript ranked #6 at 3.03%, followed by Visual Basic at #7 with 2.41%, SQL at #8 with 2.27%, Delphi/Object Pascal at #9 with 1.98%, and R at #10 with 1.82%.
| Language | January 2026 TIOBE rank | Rating | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Python | #1 | 22.61% | — |
| C | #2 | 10.99% | +2.13% |
| Java | #3 | 8.71% | — |
| C++ | #4 | 8.67% | -1.62% |
| C# | #5 | 7.39% | +2.94% |
| JavaScript | #6 | 3.03% | — |
Source: TIOBE January 2026 index.
TIOBE also states that it checks more than 1 billion lines of software code worldwide every day. That figure describes the scale of the index’s code-checking activity; it should not be read as the amount of C code checked each day.
C’s long-term TIOBE history
C’s position has moved over several decades, but the long-term record includes repeated top rankings. In TIOBE’s very long-term history, C ranked #1 in 1986, #1 in 1991, #1 in 1996, and #1 in 2001. It ranked #1 again in 2006, then #2 in 2011 and #2 in 2016. The same history lists C at #1 in 2021 and #3 in 2026.
Those historical entries are year-specific ranking snapshots. They show how C’s position appeared in the TIOBE history at the listed points; they do not establish a continuous rank for every month between those years.
The TIOBE C page identifies September 2021 as C’s highest position, #1. It identifies March 2025 as C’s lowest TIOBE position since 2001, #4. The difference between those two observations is useful context: a language can remain highly ranked while still moving several places within a changing field.
C was named TIOBE Language of the Year in 2008, 2017, and 2019. These awards are separate from the monthly rating shown in the January 2026 table. They are also separate from usage percentages in developer surveys, because each source measures a different kind of visibility.
Source: TIOBE C page, TIOBE index hall of fame, and TIOBE index long-term history.
C compared with C++ and C#
The available measures place C, C++, and C# differently depending on the population and activity being measured. On the January 2026 TIOBE table, C ranked #2, C++ #4, and C# #5. In the 2024 Stack Overflow survey, 20.3% of all respondents said they had used C in the past year, compared with 23% for C++ and 27.1% for C#.
Among professional developers in that survey, C reached 16.9%, C++ reached 20.3%, and C# reached 28.8%. Among people learning to code, C reached 38%, C++ reached 39.3%, and C# reached 22.5%. Among other coders, the corresponding figures were 24.6% for C, 25% for C++, and 21.4% for C#.
| Survey group | C | C++ | C# |
|---|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 20.3% | 23% | 27.1% |
| Professional developers | 16.9% | 20.3% | 28.8% |
| People learning to code | 38% | 39.3% | 22.5% |
| Other coders | 24.6% | 25% | 21.4% |
These percentages measure whether respondents had used each language in the past year. They are not market share, salary data, code-volume measurements, or a forecast. The group differences are therefore best read as survey usage patterns: C was reported by more than one-third of people learning to code, while C# had the highest figure among professional developers in this comparison.
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024.
GitHub activity in 2024
GitHub’s 2024 Octoverse language leaderboard ranked C #9 among programming languages on GitHub. Python ranked #1, JavaScript #2, TypeScript #3, Java #4, C# #5, C++ #6, PHP #7, Shell #8, and Go #10. GitHub said Shell overtook C in 2024 on its language leaderboard, making the #8 and #9 positions especially relevant when interpreting C’s place in that year’s public repository activity.
The leaderboard is a GitHub-specific measure. It describes the ranking reported by GitHub for its 2024 Octoverse, rather than a universal ranking of all programming work. It also differs from the TIOBE index: C was #2 in the January 2026 TIOBE table but #9 on GitHub’s 2024 leaderboard, because the two systems use different dates and measurement approaches.
GitHub reported 5.2 billion contributions to all projects in 2024 and 108 million new repositories. It also reported more than 70,000 new public and open source generative AI projects, bringing the total number of generative AI projects on GitHub to nearly 150,000. GitHub reported 98% year-over-year growth in that total and almost 60% more total contributions to all generative AI projects.
Other 2024 Octoverse figures describe the broader software environment around language activity. npm package consumption increased 15% year over year. Secret scanning detected 39 million secret leaks. Nearly 1 million repositories included a file named Dockerfile, and more than 1.5 million repositories used Jupyter Notebooks.
These figures are not C-specific counts. They provide context for the size and changing composition of the platform on which C’s #9 language position was reported.
Source: GitHub Octoverse 2024.
C usage by developer group
The 2024 Stack Overflow survey gives a more direct view of reported language use. Across all respondents, 20.3% had used C in the past year. The figure was 16.9% among professional developers, 38% among people learning to code, and 24.6% among other coders.
The learner figure is the highest C percentage among the four reported groups. It is also close to the corresponding C++ result of 39.3%, while C# reached 22.5% among people learning to code. For professional developers, C’s 16.9% was below C++ at 20.3% and C# at 28.8%.
Because the survey reports usage during the past year, these results do not say how frequently respondents used C, how much code they wrote, or whether C was their primary language. They do show that reported C use extended across all four categories measured in the survey, with the largest listed share among people learning to code.
The distinction between categories matters when reading a single headline percentage. C’s 20.3% all-respondent figure combines populations with different backgrounds. The subgroup values preserve that geography of the survey population and prevent the learner and professional results from being treated as interchangeable.
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024.
What the measures show
Taken together, the statistics describe several dimensions of C’s position. TIOBE’s January 2026 table placed C second with a 10.99% rating, while its long-term history records multiple #1 positions, including 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2021. The TIOBE C page also records the more recent high of #1 in September 2021 and the lowest position since 2001, #4, in March 2025.
GitHub’s 2024 Octoverse placed C ninth, after Shell overtook it, while still placing C++ sixth and C# fifth. The Stack Overflow 2024 survey reported C usage among 20.3% of all respondents, 16.9% of professional developers, 38% of people learning to code, and 24.6% of other coders.
The differences do not require one source to be treated as the definitive measure. TIOBE rankings, GitHub language rankings, and Stack Overflow usage responses answer different questions and refer to different measurement periods. Reading the date, population, geography, and unit of each statistic alongside the number gives a more precise picture of C programming’s continuing reach.