An open source project has revealed which programming languages users will shift to if they decide to no longer use the Julia programming language.
Julia, a programming language with roots at MIT, has released the results of its 2020 annual user survey. The study aims to uncover the preferences of those who create programs in the language. This year, the survey attracted 2,565 Julia users and developers, up from 1,844 who participated in 2019.
Python, a language that has developed a strong relationship with data scientists for machine learning applications, is overwhelmingly the language that its developers will turn to if they need another programming language.
Python of Python modules that help expand its use across various domains.
But Julia, which developer analytics firm RedMonk has rated as a monitoring language, also has decent support.
Last year, 73% of Julia users said they would use Python if they weren't using Julia, but this year that percentage increased to 76%.
MATLAB as another alternative language saw its share decrease from 35% last year to 31%, but C++ saw its share increase from 28% last year to 31% this year.
Meanwhile, R, a popular statistical programming language with a dedicated following, saw its share decline from 27% to 25%.
Some of these trends look positive for Julia's long-term survival despite the ongoing threat of Python being the ultimate choice for developers.
The most commonly used languages after Julia are Python, followed by Bash/Shell/PowerShell. And if Julia, which appeared in 2012, did not exist, most Julia users would be using C++, MATLAB, R, C, Fortran, Bash/Shell/ PowerShell, and Mathematica.
