With the range of news sources and weblogs I regularly read, it's easy to get the impression that JavaScript is on the rise, and most people agree. I would have thought that the Java language, by contrast, was in decline.

Not so, according to this recent post by Tim O'Reilly. Take a look at the graph—Java books are outselling books on other languages, including PHP, Perl, and Visual Basic. JavaScript is the grey line toward the bottom, next to Python and Ruby, two other languages getting lots of attention online.

Tim attributes the current uptick in Java book sales to the rise of various open-source projects like  Spring and Struts. He also sees "perhaps… the beginning of an uptick" in JavaScript book sales, probably thanks to the rise of Ajax and Unobtrusive JavaScript.

I do realize that the book market is not necessarily an accurate representation of the demand for different languages—with so many great online Ruby books, for example, it must be hard to sell paper ones—but it's an interesting dose of perspective nonetheless.

[via Tim Bray]