Ada, a programming language born in the late 70s, has managed to break into the top 10 of the TIOBE Index for July 2025. The sudden return of this old-timer has developers debating whether it’s a fluke or the start of a serious comeback.
Pouring petrol on the fire is none other than Paul Jansen, the CEO of TIOBE himself. In his latest update, he pointed out that while giants like Python and Java have been coasting along at the top, the real action is happening with the classics. Languages like Visual Basic, Fortran, and Ada are all jostling for position.
Jansen seems fascinated by the fact that these older languages are holding their own against newcomers. “Where are Rust, Kotlin, Dart, and Julia?” he mused, adding, “Apparently, established languages are hot.”
However, when considering which of these programming language veterans he’d back in a race for survival, Jansen is putting his money on Ada. Why? In a world increasingly obsessed with security, he believes Ada is “likely the best survivor” because it was built from the ground up for super-secure, safety-critical systems. This month, it landed at number 10 on the TIOBE Index.
Of course, not everyone takes these league tables as gospel. Spend five minutes on any developer forum, and you’ll find plenty of scepticism.
Some programmers argue that the way TIOBE calculates its rankings, using search engines like Google and even Amazon, doesn’t truly reflect what professionals are using day-to-day. It’s a fair point; a different ranking system, the PYPL index, which tracks searches for programming tutorials, shows a slightly different top ten.
Still, many on the front lines feel this isn’t just a statistical blip. They believe Ada’s resurging popularity as a programming language is tied to real shifts in the industry. Word on the street is that the avionics world, which had strayed to C++, is now coming back to Ada. The same whispers are coming from the automotive industry.
It seems that for building software that absolutely cannot fail – whether that’s planes, self-driving cars, rockets, or anything else critical – Ada’s reputation for being solid is winning out. The fact Nvidia is now also testing out Ada has only fanned the flames.
However, could there be a simpler explanation for the popularity? Some have wondered if it’s just a case of mistaken identity, confusing the language with searches for the Cardano (ADA) cryptocurrency. But others quickly shut that idea down, pointing out that the timing doesn’t quite fit. Besides, they say, you only need to look at the growing crowds at Ada-specific developer events to see the interest is real.
Ada somewhat fell from grace as a programming language in the early 2000s, hurt by expensive tools and a shortage of developers. But now, it seems its core strengths are back in fashion. As our world becomes more reliant on complex software, the need for secure, reliable code is more critical than ever.
So, is Ada’s moment in the spotlight a fleeting burst of nostalgia, or a sign that we’re finally realising the value of building things to last? For now, the old-timer is back in the game.
See also: NSA and CISA urge shift to languages improving memory safety
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