Developer Survey 2024: Developers love AI, but doubt its accuracy
Technologies, salaries and AI: the big Stack Overflow annual survey paints a current picture of software development and surprises with new insights
(Image: Diki Prayogo/ Shutterstock.com)
- Robert Lippert
AI is entering the market with big promises, the average annual income is falling and technical debt remains the biggest frustration factor - the new Developer Survey 2024 from Stack Overflow shows how this is affecting the overall developer experience. The well-known online platform for programming and software development surveyed around 65,000 software developers about technologies, AI and the working environment.
JavaScript remains the most popular programming language and Rust is experiencing a renaissance
In terms of technology, the report takes stock of the most widely used programming languages, databases, cloud platforms and web frameworks. As in previous years, JavaScript remains in first place with 62.3 percent of votes, closely followed by HTML/CSS (52.9 percent) and Python (51 percent). Zephyr is used the least, but with its first release in 2016, it still offers a relatively young environment for real-time operating systems.
(Image:Â Stackoverflow)
The report pays particular attention to Rust. The programming language is only used intensively by 12.6% of those surveyed, but 82.2% of users are considering using Rust at some point in the coming year. MATLAB was the least enthusiastic at around 21.7 percent.
In terms of databases, PostgreSQL is once again in first place this year with 48.7 percent of votes, ahead of MySQL (40.3 percent) and SQLite (33.1 percent). This makes PostgreSQL the most widely used database among female software developers for the second year in a row.
In terms of cloud platforms, Stack Overflow did not observe any changes at the top. Amazon Web Services remains in the lead with 48% usage, followed by Microsoft Azure (27.8%) and Google Cloud (25.1%). It is worth noting that Azure only plays a subordinate role for young professionals with 12.5% - Google Cloud dominates with 24.5% and Amazon Web Services with 21.1% of usage.
Disillusionment with AI, increasing awareness of ethical issues
Questions relating to artificial intelligence are also among the focal points of the Developer Survey 2024 and the answers paint a mixed picture. Presumably as a result of unfulfilled expectations, enthusiasm for AI solutions has fallen from 77% to 72%. At the same time, the use of AI tools in projects has risen from 70 to 76 percent, according to Stack Overflow.
(Image:Â Stackoverflow)
According to Stack Overflow, developers benefit most from productivity increases through the use of AI tools. Around 43 percent of users trust the answers provided by AI, while around 31 percent are skeptical about the results. Career starters are significantly more confident in using the technology at this point.
For the coming year, it is becoming apparent that AI will find its way into the areas of documentation (81 percent), testing (80 percent) and writing code (76 percent).
Falling income and developer experience
Aside from technological development, developers were faced with various challenges last year. The average annual income has fallen by around ten thousand US dollars. Site Reliability Engineers and Cloud Infrastructure Engineers, who are crucial for the operation of digital services, earn the highest salaries. There are also national focuses here: in the USA, mobile developers are among the top group, in Germany and Ukraine it is data engineers and in India and the United Kingdom, backend developers earn above average. According to the survey, German top salaries for developers (median, converted into US dollars) are up to 82,000 US dollars, in the USA up to 225,000 US dollars.
However, salary is not the most important factor for the satisfaction of software developers. The main frustration factor for 62.4 percent of those surveyed is technical debt - regardless of whether they are involved as developers or managers. At the same time, around two thirds of respondents are satisfied or even happy with their current job.
According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024, what unites developers at this point is their passion for improving software quality and their development environments. According to the survey, this is the work that excites them the most.
Stack Overflow's Developer Survey is relevant in that it provides comprehensive insights into the trends, technologies and working conditions of the global developer community. It helps companies to better understand the needs and preferences of developers; looking at the current mood and challenges can provide valuable information for recruitment and development.
(emw)
