Highlights from Stack Overflow annual Developer Survey 2018

This is a screenshot taken from Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results page

Originally I’ve shared this material to Syndicode blog.

Did you know that the number of backend developers prevails over the number of frontend developers? And did you know that over 80% of developers say that they code as a hobby? More of interesting and significant numbers and facts are shown in Stack Overflow annual Developer Survey results for 2018…

I’ve found an interesting survey you should explore as a developer! It is provided by famous Stack Overflow and consists of statistics gathered with the help of more than 100,000 developers who responded 30-minute survey this January. They were answering the questions on everything from their favorite technologies to their job preferences. And I made some highlights for you.

Stack Overflow annual Developer Survey results for 2018

Highlights

1. Almost 60% of respondents identify as backend developers
2. 56.4% of professional developers contribute to open source
3. 24.8% of developers learned to code within the past five years
4. Game/graphics developers and mobile developers have the fewest years of experience, ≤ 5 years
5. 46.1% of professional developers have a bachelor’s degree
6. 76.3% of developers participate in hackathons because they find it enjoyable
7. 92.7% of respondents are male
8. This is the first year Stack Overflow asked the respondents about their sexual orientation. 2.4% of them confessed being gay or lesbian.
9. 8.5% of developers have mood or emotional disorder (ex. depression, bipolar disorder)
10. Women have the highest representation as academics, QA developers, data scientists, and designers
11. Developers are older (average age — 29) with more experience (average experience — 11.7 years) in Australia
12. 52.7% of developers spend from 9 to 12 hours on a computer, and 37.4% of them don’t exercise!
13. For the sixth year in a row, JavaScript is the most commonly used programming language, for 69.8% of developers (HTML is in the second place)
14. 48.3% of developers prefer Linux
15. Rust is the most loved programming language for 78.9% of respondents
16. Visual Studio Code is the most popular development environment for 34.9% of respondents
17. 72.8% of developers are excited about AI
18. 74.0% of professional developers are full-time employed
19. 58.5% of respondents will refuse to write a code for an Unethical Purpose
20. 85.4% of developers use Agile development methodology. Read about other development methodologies here
21. 0.5% of respondents have never visited Stack Overflow before the survey day :)

Explore all the results here!

I love statistics! Check also software development salary survey from the last year provided by O’Reilly.

Thank you reading!

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