• Python programming basics popular among GitHub users.
• Generative AI languages and methods gain traction on the platform.
• Jupyter Notebooks also rise in use.

There have been many effects wrought on the technology world by AI, but the supplanting of JavaScript by Python as the world’s most popular programming language is perhaps one that’s both unexpected yet logical.

According to a blog post on GitHub, Python is now the most used on the platform’s repos, which has also seen a huge rise in Jupyter Notebooks, “both of which underscore the surge in data science and machine learning.”

The platform’s relatively early use of machine learning to provide developers with AI-powered code completion and suggestions caused a good deal of controversy at its introduction, with critics citing concerns about possible plagiarism and licence infringements. Nevertheless, even the most dedicated AI-dislikers among the development community have at least tried the Copilot feature, and its use remains popular.

GitHub has found that in the last ten months, it’s seeing a great deal of activity from project contributors in places like South America, India (which is expected to be the most active country on the platform by 2028), Japan, and Singapore. In generative AI-based projects there has been a large rise in the number of contributors, and a 98% rise in the number of projects overall.

Beyond Python programming basics

Although Python is often-quoted as being a “beginner’s language” – for which it remains suitable – it’s become massively extensible, so can be, if pursued hard enough, highly complex and specialised. Those with just the bare essentials of Python programming basics can quickly assemble pre-made models and submit queries in just a few hours. As a mature language, beginners and advanced programmers have access to an inordinate number of courses, guides and forums that will help advance their progress.

Python’s more widespread presence on GitHub has broadened the demographics of users, with large communities now active on the platform from a broad range of STEM backgrounds, changing the nature of the average user from those with a ‘traditional’ programming background.

There’s little evidence that GitHub users are switching languages from their specialisations to code in Python: JS, Java, Rust (in increasing use rewriting Windows libraries) and TypeScript remain strong and are to be found in an increasing number of repositories. There has also been a 15% rise in consumption of JavaScript packages via npm this year, the platform reports.

The platform hosts more than 518 million projects, with contributors from the Philippines now outnumbering Australians, Indians overtaking Chinese coders since 2022, and Pakistanis now more numerous than Poles. GitHub puts the rise in non-native English speakers’ numbers down to AI, which ‘[enables] developers to engage with code in their natural language.”

The US tops the league table of contributors’ nationality, followed by India, Germany, Brazil, the UK and China.

Although GitHub’s blog talks big figures when discussing projects it hosts licensed as open-source, it notes that 82% of contributions are made to private repos, citing its decision in 2022 to offer free accounts for individual developers, the same year that Copilot came out of technical preview, AKA beta.

The rise of Python in popularity and increased metrics around Jupyter Notebooks is also accompanied by a spike in instances of T-SQL (a sequel variant popular in AI development), as data scientists, mathematicians, hobbyists, educators, and students join the ranks of GitHub users to, we presume, further their careers in and knowledge of AI creation and development.