SW Construction: Julia fastest-growing new programming language?

O "índice de macheza" da sua linguagem de programação, TIOBE Index, traz novidades:

Stats chart rapid rise in 2018 for Julia programming language
Is Julia fastest-growing new programming language? Stats chart rapid rise in 2018 | ZDNet

Mobile Development: Cross platform languages?

https://www.infoworld.com/article/3231664/application-development/apples-swift-is-losing-developers-to-multiplatform-frameworks.html

Quoting:
"Microsoft’s Xamarin, Apache Cordova, and Ionic are replacing the use of Swift and Xcode as developers seek to maintain fewer code bases".

Naturally. The TIOBE guys say.

The 2017 top programming languages

According to IEEE (also see the TIOBE index):
http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-2017-top-programming-languages

SW Construction: Cobol in-house development for what?

COBOL still in the headlines (and still in indexes like the TIOBE index). Read to understand why (and how custom / bespoke software developed in-house, which typically is business-critical, is to be replaced):
https://www.fedscoop.com/va-looks-move-past-cobol-house-software-development/

Quoting:
"Thomas’ predecessor CIO LaVerne Council last year launched the idea of a VA digital health platform, which is slated to incorporate commercial cloud computing, open architecture and agile delivery to best keep pace with best-in-class digital health technologies.

That’s because today, VA is still running some systems based on COBOLprogramming, like its decades-old benefits delivery network, and it employs programmers who specialize in the maintenance of the outdated, legacy programming language — though “it’s dwindling, as you well know, they’re retiring,” the acting CIO said. The VA also enlists contractors to support the operations and maintenance of those systems, he added.

Modernizing those COBOL systems is at the top of Thomas and VA’s Office of Information and Technology’s list of priorities for 2017, he said.

“That’s a big risk to us,” Thomas said. “That’s something that’s job No. 1 for this year,” before things like continued development of enterprise cybersecurity strategy, modernizing VA’s health care scheduling program and consolidating financial management systems to be run as a shared service through the Agriculture Department."

RESOURCE: TIOBE Index or "the manhood index for programmers" (if they are men)

The Short Story

The latest version of this monthly rank can be found here (COBOL still appears on the second part of the ranking, and VB is pretty much up in the ranking): http://www.tiobe.com/tiobe_index?page=index

The rationale behind the calculations (or the index definition) is described here ("unfortunately" porn sites are excluded - just kidding).

The Long Story

Let me quickly share the TIOBE Index, aka as "the manhood index for programmers" (if they are men) - translated to PT this would translate to "Índice de Macheza do Pugramador" (sic). And this is why: A man should only be considered a man if it is programming on its current position using one of the top 3 languages in this index. If not, you can say to you (man) colleague: "Ah, you're really a chicken" (or something alike, preferably equally insulting).

Talking more seriously, you can look at this index in several ways:
- The current month rank: Shows what languages are more popular (or at least what have been more researched upon)
- The recent years trend (since June 2001)

You can look at this index in several ways: I want to position myself in a "popular" language (which translates to "top ranking language" in this ranking) over the last few years (define the number of years for your particular case); this could be a wise career decision (medium-long term).

But don't forget to look it the other way (the short term): Older languages (like COBOL or Delphi / Object Pascal) are not so popular but because resources are scarce they will be highly paid and could be in high demand: For instance look for job positions of Delphi Programmers in the UK to sort it out (is 320 GBP a day good enough for you?).