Left for Dead, R Surges Again

Don't look now, but R, which some had written off as a language in terminal decline in lieu of Python's immense and growing popularity, appears to be staging a furious comeback the likes of which IT has rarely seen. According to the TIOBE Index, which tracks the popularity of programming languages (as expressed in Web searches), R has risen an unprecedented 12 spots, up from number 20 in the summer of 2019 to number 8 on its list today. That's a huge move, particularly in light of the continued domination of Python as the language of choice for data science. A recent report on data science tools by Anaconda found that 75% of data scientists and analyst report using Python "always" or "frequently," which was by far the most popular language. Only 6% of users reported not using Python, which is quite remarkable when you think about it. To its credit, R was number two in Anaconda's ranking, but it wasn't really close, as only 27% of users reported using R "always" or "frequently."