Tech Reaction — Stack Overflow’s annual Developer Survey 2019
Being a developer is a ton of fun. I have worked many jobs which have nothing to do with programming. So, i can compare and contrast among different kind of jobs. With that context, yes, being a developer is a lot of fun. The money is good too (thank you god and my clients and my parents and all the other folks who helped me and continue to help me).
At least for me, the excitement comes from the comfort of being part of software industry. The lucrative money making opportunities. Also, today, we all have a computer in our pockets. Today, more than ever, and in the next few years to come, computers will continue to play an important role in daily life. That means, god willing, the excitement and money making will continue for people like me for the foreseeable future.
There is a catch. There is always a catch.
Software industry, more so than any other industry, runs on new things replacing old things. My mother, she has this watch from when she got married, like, decades ago. It still works. I have books and toys from my primary school days, that are still usable. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same to anything that is software related. I cannot use a smartphone that was purchased only five years ago. Same goes to computers and any software that runs on it. Unless it is reengineered in some say, its impossible to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One.
In Software, things change and they change fast. Any self-respecting developer (if not self-respecting, at least any money-making developer) has to know what is current and what is coming up next. That is where, the stack overflow developer survey helps me. It’s like a treasure map to know where I am, and where I should be.
I deligently participate in the survey and I read the report too.
It also helps me find out where I stand with my peers from around the world.
Lets look at the highlights.
Developer Type — There are many types of developer types. I for one, have been a full stack developer for a few years now. As per the survey, 52 % of developers are full stack developers. So, I am part of that group nice. Oh yeah!
Coding as a Hobby — 80 % of developers code as a hobby. That is another thing I do. Neat.
Experience — I have been coding for 7 years (professionally). 27 % of developers are in that bracket. Not a bad group to be part of.
Taught Yourself — An incredible 85 % of folks taught themselves a lot of things. This is something that I have been doing since I was 15 when I wrote my first line of code in C. I tell every student I meet when they ask me for advice. A good developer always teaches himself programming. However, a lot of students seem to want someone else (their employer or teacher or tutor) to teach them programming. This 85 % validates what I have always known. Developers must be able to teach themselves. Yes.
Gender — 92 % of developers are male. This figure does not surprise me. I have worked on dozens of projects from around the world in the last seven years. Only 10% of them have been women. Most of the time, its just dudes programming in project teams. I will continue to hope that someday we will achieve gender parity.
Competence — I am not surprised to find that 45 % believe they are little above average and that is where I fall too. I tell anybody who listens. I am a decent programmer but not the best or anything. I can get the job done. That seems to be enough for most business scenarios.
Programming Languages
This is my favorite part of the survey. It helps me feel safe. I have written before about the uncertainties a freelance developer has to live with. I must constantly build backups and safety nets.
Of the top ten languages (programming, scripting and markup), I can program/use/understand the following
- Javascript
2. HTML/CSS
3. SQL
4. Java
5. C#
6. Swift (not in top 10 but in the top 20)
In addition to this, if we look at Platforms, I am once again able to target the following from the top 10.
- Windows
2. Android
3. iOS
4. Azure (out of top 10 at 12. but in the top 2 if you just look at Cloud Platforms)
The above combination of platforms and languages is what ultimately allows me to bid for projects, get them and get paid (as a consequence, live a fairly decent life — thanks to the good grace of the gods). I am not an expert in any of the above things. However, I am good enough get a commercial app or service up and running. Software that I have built (or managed) have been used by anywhere from a few hundred customers to thousands.
In one case, an app I was in charge of was used by millions of customers all over India. That was pretty cool, actually.
Employment Status
Another thing that fills me with joy is that roughly 10 % of developers are full time freelance developers. Being a work from home freelancer developer is a blissful situation to be in. It is also very lonely. I dont have to fight and battle over office politics. Nor do I have sit in insane traffic for 2 to 3 hours everyday. I admit, I miss the face to face interactions that happens in offices.
One cannot have the cake and eat it too i guess.
Final Word
All in all, I am very happy to be part of the software industry. I am also happy that we have resources like stack overflow (without which I would be completely lost in my daily work life). Thank you stack overflow for everything and also this fantastic survey.
