The use of Visual Basic, one of the most popular computer languages throughout the last fifteen years, is eroding dramatically according to Evans Data’s Fall 2006 North American Development Survey. Overall, developer use of the Visual Basic family has dropped off by 35% since last spring. As expected, developers are finally leaving VB6 and earlier versions, they’re also leaving VB.NET; which is down by 26%. This means Java now holds the market penetration lead at 45% (with developers using Java during some portion of their time), followed by C/C++ at 40%, and C# at 32%.

“Microsoft has dominated languages since the early 90’s but we are seeing much more parity now,” said John Andrews, President, Evans Data. “The use of scripting languages, as well as Java, appear to have limited VB’s future market potential.”

Other findings from the Fall Survey of more than 430 developers in North America:

· Over 70% of developers reported that they will be involved in web related development in the coming year.

· Rich Internet Applications are being written by 80%.

· Ajax grew (by 10%) to reach a total penetration level of 28%.