Educational attainment
66% of developers have a BA/BS or MA/MS degree despite only 49% of developers learning to code at school.
Learning to code
Online resources are the top choice for developers to learn code according to 82% of responses.
Respondents 18 - 24 years old are most likely to learn code at traditional schools of all the age groups, and consistently so for the last three years.
Databases
PostgreSQL debuted in the developer survey in 2018 when 33% of developers reported using it, compared with the most popular option that year: MySQL, in use by 59% of developers. Six years later, PostgreSQL is used by 49% of developers and is the most popular database for the second year in a row.
Other tools
Docker is used the most by professional developers (59%) and npm is used the most by developers learning to code (45%).
Asynchronous tools
Jira and Confluence top the list for most used asynchronous tools developers use for the third year.
Programming, scripting, and markup languages
JavaScript, Python and SQL are all highly-desired and admired programming languages, but Rust continues to be the most-admired programming language with an 83% score this year.
AI Search and Developer Tools
Most developers use ChatGPT of all the AI tools, and 74% want to keep using it next year. 41% of ChatGPT users want to use GitHub Copilot next year.
Top paying technologies
Erlang developers take the top spot this year for highest reported median salary.
AI tools in the development process
76% of all respondents are using or are planning to use AI tools in their development process this year, an increase from last year (70%). Many more developers are currently using AI tools this year, too (62% vs. 44%).
AI tools next year
In the next year, most developers agree that AI tools will be more integrated mostly in the ways they are documenting code (81%), testing code (80%), and writing code (76%).
Employment status
84% of respondents are working: either part-time, freelancing, or full-time.
Work environment
The number of hybrid developers has stayed consistent this year with last year (42%), while the percentage of developers working in-person has increased (20%) for the third year in a row compared to 15% in 2022 and 16% in 2023.
Tech endorsement factors
APIs are pretty cool, but did you know that 75% of developers are more likely to endorse your technology if you provide access to APIs? Make sure to let back-end developers and engineering managers know about the API integrations you offer: they are even more likely to endorse your tech than the average coder.
How you choose to use Stack Overflow
Everyone agrees that finding answers quickly is the primary reason to use Stack Overflow. Understandably, those learning to code are more likely to use Stack Overflow to learn coding skills than professional developers or other coders.
Years of professional work experience
1 in 4 are 1 to 4: as in 25% of professional developers report having one to four years of work experience. The majority of respondents are early-to-mid career professionals (nine or less years experience) and the majority of people managers are mid-to-later career professionals (10+ years experience).
Daily time spent searching for answers/solutions
61% of all respondents spend more than 30 minutes a day searching for answers or solutions to problems.
People managers spend less time searching than individual contributors (40% vs. 36% spend 30 minutes or less).