How popular are the various programming languages?

It's a hard question to answer. I recently saw one attempt: Programming Language Popularity.

I always enjoy this sort of informal statistical analysis, especially since all the data is out there for free, and all it takes is someone with sufficient interest, time, and a decent graphing tool. But don't just look at the graphs; the accompanying text is interesting as well. I especially like the rationale of using craigslist as a data point for available jobs: "because the jobs tend to be real jobs with real companies rather than the sort of 'must have 20 years Java, EJB, J2EE, VHF, FBI, USDA, UML, MIA, ATF experience' jobs that one finds elsewhere."

Check it out if you're wondering how your favorite language is doing these days. But take it with a large box of salt.

On a related note, the classic Operating System Sucks-Rules-O-Meter remains a favorite.