Today Stack Overflow released the results of their 2017 survey of more than 64,000 developers.
Just like in 2016, I’ve combed through these results and summarized them for you.
Here’s a lightning-fast snapshot of what the software development profession looks like in 2017.
A vast majority of developers consider themselves “web developers.”
Most web developers consider themselves “full stack developers.”
JavaScript is by far the most popular tool programmers use today.
Developers work in a wide variety of industries — most of them outside of what we traditionally call “tech.”
Most of them work at companies with fewer than 500 employees.
But less than 1 in 5 of them work at a startup.
Most of them work as full-time employees.
Two-thirds of them got their current job through someone they already knew, or were approached by a recruiter.
Regardless of their specialization, developers make good money.
And if they happen to be in America, they make even more money.
This said, most of them feel underpaid for the caliber of work they do.
Two out of three developers work from home at least a few days a month.
And they prefer to listen to music while they work.
30% of all developers have been coding for less than 5 years.
Most developers went to college, but nearly a quarter of working developers never finished a 4-year degree.
80% of college-educated developers studied some kind of technology-related major.
Despite this, less than half of developers consider their formal education to be “important” or “very important” to their jobs.
Even though software development is dominated by men, it’s becoming more diverse. Just one year ago, 93% of respondents were male. This time, only 89% were.
1 in 100 developers are blind, and 1 in 200 developers are deaf.
freeCodeCamp contributor Florian Beijers was born blind. You can read how he’s able to program using a standard-issue laptop.
Thanks for reading. If you have time, you can read through the full survey results and share your insights in the comments section below.