GitHub Insights — Exploring the Mozambican Developer Ecosystem
Analyzing data from GitHub in Mozambique offers valuable insight into technological development in the country, allowing for insights and discoveries that can drive the technology sector forward.
By examining the data provided by the GitHub API, we were able to extract valuable insights about users, their repositories, liked repositories and more, as well as understanding patterns, identifying development trends and exploring the dynamics of the developer community in Mozambique.
These insights can drive technology investments as well as encourage collaboration and learning among developers, driving digital economic development.
Throughout this article, we will share the results of the analysis, presenting relevant findings for the developer community and others interested in the growth of the technology sector in the country, bringing a deeper understanding of the use of GitHub in Mozambique.
10 programming languages most liked by Mozambicans
One of the most common debates in the developer community is about language trends. At this point, we present the 10 programming languages most liked by Mozambican developers.
To obtain these results, we collected data from users, considering the likes (stars) attributed to repositories that use different programming languages. After collection, we normalized the data to prevent users with the highest number of liked repositories from influencing the results.
1. JavaScript: With the leadership position, JavaScript stands out as the programming language most liked by Mozambican developers on GitHub. Its popularity is attributed to its versatility and wide application in web and front-end development.
2. Java: Java occupies the second position, being a language widely used in application development, enterprise systems and Android development. Its strong presence indicates interest in these areas.
3. PHP: Although it has lost popularity over the years, PHP is still valued by Mozambican developers, occupying the third position on the list. It is widely used for web development, especially on dynamic websites and server-based applications.
4. Python: Python, known for its simplicity and readability, is the fourth most liked language. Its growing popularity is due to its use in areas such as data analysis, artificial intelligence and web development.
5. TypeScript: TypeScript, a programming language that adds static typing capabilities to JavaScript, ranks fifth. Its growing adoption reflects developers’ interest in robust, scalable front-end development.
6. Dart: Dart, a language associated with the Flutter framework for developing mobile apps, ranks sixth. Its inclusion in the list indicates the growing interest of Mozambicans in cross-platform mobile application development.
7. C#: C# is a popular language for developing .NET applications and games on the Unity platform, ranking seventh.
8. C++: Widely used in the development of embedded systems, games and high-performance software, C++ ranks eighth.
9. Kotlin: Kotlin, the official language for Android development, ranks ninth. Its growing popularity can be attributed to its support from Google and its interoperability with Java.
10. C: The C programming language closes the list of the 10 most liked. C is a fundamental language for developing operating systems, device drivers, and more.
Mozambicans registered on GitHub per year
Another interesting insight obtained from analyzing this data is the significant increase in the number of Mozambican users registered on GitHub over the years, with a peak in 2021. This insight can be visualized through the bar graph, where each bar represents a year and the height of the bar represents the number of registered users in that year.
Among the possible causes of the increase in the number of Mozambican users are the increase in internet access, the growing awareness of the importance of collaborating on software projects, and the growing popularity of GitHub as a development platform. Such information is critical to understanding the impact of GitHub as a collaboration platform and the involvement of local developers.
Repositories created per year
In the graph, each bar corresponds to a year and the height of the bar indicates the number of public repositories created in that year.
With this insight we can measure the level of activity and engagement in the developer community in Mozambique over time, identifying periods of growth or stagnation.
Note that the fluctuations in the number of public repositories created over the years can be influenced by specific events, changes in technological trends or even socioeconomic factors that impact the activity of developers.
It is important to point out that the numbers presented do not represent the total activity measure of Mozambican users on GitHub, because the analysis considers only public repositories, excluding private repositories that may be being used by developers. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account that the numbers presented are an estimate and may not fully reflect the participation and activity of users on GitHub.
Is there any relationship between Peak User Inputs in 2021 and Peak Public Repositories Created in 2022?
The results indicate that the increase in the number of users in 2021 motivated more developers to share their projects publicly on GitHub, resulting in a spike in public repositories created in the following year. This evidences a positive relationship between the growth of the user community and the creation of public repositories.
However, it is important to consider that other factors may have influenced the creation of repositories in 2022, such as technological trends, specific events or initiatives to encourage collaboration and code sharing. These factors may have contributed to the spike in public repositories created, regardless of the increase in user numbers in 2021.
Distribution of users by province
When analyzing the distribution of GitHub users by province in Mozambique, an important point is the more than significant concentration of users in the city of Maputo, the country’s capital. Furthermore, it is relevant to note that the second largest group of users did not identify the province in which they are located.
The fact that Maputo has the highest number of GitHub users can be attributed to its position as the country’s tech hub. The capital, as an important economic and educational hub, attracts talent and investments related to technology. In addition, Maputo generally has better infrastructure conditions and internet access compared to other provinces, which may influence the concentration of users in the country.
On the other hand, the presence of a significant group of users not identified by province is caused by several factors, such as the lack of information in the user profile or the use of districts, neighborhoods or other “non-provincial” points in the location.
Popularity
When looking at the number of followers and people followed per user on GitHub, an interesting point is that most users follow more people than they have followers.
The tendency to follow more people than to care about having followers is attributed to the collaborative nature of the developer community on GitHub. Users can follow other developers to stay up-to-date with their projects, discover new technologies and learn from their contributions, as well as make connections, build professional networks, and find mentors.
In a nutshell, users are more interested in learning and building connections with users focusing on common areas. It motivates them unlike some other social platforms.
Popularity of repositories
Upon further analysis of the data, an interesting pattern was identified regarding the popularity of repositories and users on GitHub. The first graph represents a comparison between the popularity of each repository and its respective owner, the second compares the popularity of each user and the total points in all their repositories.
Contrary to common expectation, it was observed that the most popular repositories are generally associated with users with a relatively low number of followers, while users with more followers do not have very popular repositories.
This can be explained by the fact that these (not so popular) users may have created highly relevant and useful projects that have attracted a large developer community, but have yet to build a significant following.
On the other hand, the nature of popular users’ work may focus more on contributions to other projects, involvement in issues and code reviews, or actions on other aspects of the platform beyond the creation of popular repositories.
This highlights that popularity on the platform can be achieved in different ways and is not necessarily linked to the number of followers of a user. It is important to consider other factors such as the relevance and usefulness of the projects, participating in the community and contributing to other projects, as well as creating popular repositories.
Repositories without updates
During the analysis, data were collected from the repositories. In this regard, the time since the last update in each repository was considered to determine the number of repositories without updates for more than a year, where we concluded that just over 60% of Mozambican user repositories have not received updates for more than a year.
This trend may reflect the completion or abandonment of previous projects, changing interests and priorities, or the presence of personal or experimental projects that do not require regular updates.
It is important to note that the lack of updates does not necessarily indicate a lack of activity or active participation in the platform, as developers may be involved in other projects or collaborations outside the scope of the analysis.
Repositories and Mozambican repositories
When analyzing the interaction of Mozambicans on GitHub, a relevant insight is that around 60% of Mozambican users did not like any repository on the platform.
The high percentage of users who did not like any repository indicates that, in large part, these are passive observers on the platform, they may be using GitHub mainly to access projects, follow the work of other developers or seek information, without necessarily interacting through likes.
On the other hand, among users who liked at least one repository, regardless of their origin, it was verified whether they liked at least one national repository. With this we conclude that more than 60% of Mozambican users (who liked at leastleast one repository) liked at least one national repository.
This indicates that the developer community in Mozambique values and recognizes internal projects, seeking connections, collaborations and showing pride in national achievements. This appreciation of national repositories contributes to the growth and promotion of the developer community in Mozambique, encouraging the exchange of knowledge and boosting the development of local projects.
Trends in Mozambique
By analyzing the repositories liked by Mozambicans on GitHub, we identified trending topics that stand out. These topics can be viewed through wordcloud, where the size of the words represents their relevance.
Trending topics, identified from repositories liked by Mozambicans on GitHub, highlight areas of interest and relevance to the Mozambican developer community.
Note that the presence of the topic “Mozambique” in wordcloud highlights the specific interest in local projects and technologies.
Use of programming languages: An analysis over the years
At this point, we analyzed a dataset spanning the years 2011 to 2023 to identify the most used programming languages in GitHub repositories, which revealed some interesting trends over the years:
JavaScript: JavaScript has consistently been the most used language over the years. Its versatility and wide adoption in web and front-end development can explain this dominance.
TypeScript: As of 2020, we see TypeScript prominence as an increasingly popular language. Its static typing and support for modern features have attracted developers looking for greater security and scalability.
Java, Python and PHP: These three languages have maintained a stable presence among the most used over the years. Java, with its wide adoption in enterprise development, Python, with its clean syntax and versatility, and PHP, popular in web development, remain solid choices for many developers.
Other Emerging Languages: In addition to the aforementioned languages, we have seen the emergence of domain-specific languages such as Kotlin and Dart, which have gained popularity in their respective mobile development niches.
Year-to-Year Changes: While some languages have maintained their popularity over the years, there have been variations in the most-used rankings from one year to the next. This is due to changes in technological trends, market demands and the emergence of new languages.
It’s important to be aware of these trends in order to make informed decisions about programming languages and stay current in the technological development landscape.
Conclusion
Analyzing GitHub data is an ongoing process, and this project is just a starting point. Technological evolution and the active participation of the Mozambican developer community will continue to shape the GitHub landscape in the country. Therefore, it is essential that new analyzes and projects are carried out periodically to keep pace with changes and capture the latest developments.
By sharing the insights and discoveries gained, the Mozambican developer community can collectively benefit, strengthening the country’s technology sector.
The project repository will be updated whenever new insights and relevant findings are obtained.
Follow closely: https://github.com/HercoZauZau/GitHub_Insights--Mozambique
