Is VB extinct as a language?

So the question is Visual Basic extinct... the answer is no, and it appears as though it is not going extinct in this decade. Based on the rate of change, shown in the chart below, VB will take at least 10 years to fit the label extinct [don't quote me as odd can happen]. I think there are other languages that are on the endangered list and well ahead of VB as possibly going extinct.

In the two bar charts below, VB makes it into top 20 languages for 2009. All data is January through September for each year. Since we do not know how October through December is going to shake out for 2009, I thought it was best to include data that we can compare on equal footing. By the way, if your favorite language did not make this list, it had no Book units sold in 2009 and hence, I did not include the zero-netting titles.

Another caveat is that each of these data points / languages has a flag of 'primary' language in our data mart. In other words, the book has one language used predominantly throughout. Our Head First Design Patterns book uses Java for all examples, so it gets the Java primary language flag. The Gang of Four, Design Patterns book, uses C++, SmallTalk and possibly one other minor usage of a language, if I recall. That book carries the C++ primary flag with the other languages getting secondary flags.

So back to the question at hand. You'll notice Visual Basic is either above or at average for almost every year. It trending close to equal with the 2009 average.




The titles below are in alpha order. See the legend for the year sequence, but it is roughly left to right with 2004 being on the left and 2009 being on the right. Again, this is for Book Point of Purchase sales for January through September for each year.




So if you want to see what has made an impact for all languages during the same time period, you can see the radar graph below. Again, if your favorite language did not make this list, it is because it did not sell enough units during the time frames below. That is not a reflection of whether or not the language is good, bad, right or wrong, it just did not sell enough Books in retail. You can read more about similar analysis here.