[moe]

In TIOBE index of programming language popularity (based on web searches), Ruby is ranked 18th, down from 11th

The TIOBE method is rather meaningless below rank 10 (and probably above, too). The delta between spot 10 and spot 20 in their ladder is a mere 1.1 points (of 100).

Do you really believe Delphi and ABAP are more popular than Ruby, as their table claims?

It is supported by overall job trends

Huh? In both of your linked charts Ruby is trending upwards.

[brd]

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if ABAP were to rival Ruby in popularity (by employment metrics) considering how widely adopted SAP is within the fortune 500.

I don't disagree with the rest of your points, just pointing out that the enterprise world is much larger than most developers would anticipate.

[geoelectric]

By the same token, there's probably a fair amount of legacy Delphi code. It was especially popular for 4GL outside the US.

[mattmanser]

Well, what else have we got? I'm not a big fan of TIOBE, but SO's recent surveys have also confirmed dropping Ruby popularity. I did say 'might be'. I'm being a bit cagey because it's hard to tell, we all live in cliques.

So to me it's all a bit risky, a bit of a punt, and so I'm asking, what am I not seeing, where's the market they're betting on?