Stack Overflow Reveals Results From 'Largest Developer Survey Ever Conducted' (stackoverflow.com)

More than 64,000 developers from 213 countries participated in this year's annual survey by Stack Overflow -- the largest number ever -- giving a glimpse into the collective psyche of programmers around the world. An anonymous reader quotes their announcement: A majority of developers -- 56.5% -- said they were underpaid. Developers who work in government and non-profits feel the most underpaid, while those who work in finance feel the most overpaid... While only 13.1% of developers are actively looking for a job, 75.2% of developers are interested in hearing about new job opportunities...

When asked what they valued most when considering a new job, 53.3% of respondents said remote options were a top priority. 65% of developers reported working remotely at least one day a month, and 11.1% say they're full-time remote or almost all the time. Also, the highest job satisfaction ratings came from developers who work remotely full-time.
62.5% of the respondents reported using JavaScript, while 51.2% reported SQL, with 39.7% using Java and 34.1% using C# -- but for the #5 slot, "the use of Python [32.0%] overtook PHP [28.1%] for the first time in five years." Yet as far as which languages developers wanted to continue using, "For the second year in a row, Rust was the most loved programming language... Swift, last year's second most popular language, ranked as fourth. For the second year in a row, Visual Basic (for 2017, Visual Basic 6, specifically) ranked as the most dreaded language; 88.3% of developers currently using Visual Basic said they did not want to continue using it."

Comments

Using Javascript

[phantomfive]

Those poor programmers using Javascript. What a lousy language.

(If anyone wants to know why, I will pick one feature out of many. Say you wrote a large program in Javascript, which is happening more often these days. Then you want to refactor by renaming a variable. In Java or C or C# you can refactor by using an IDE automatically, and if somehow you miss an instance, it will be caught at compile time. In Perl or Objective C or Smalltalk, it will caught at runtime in the worst case. But in Javascript, it might not be caught even at runtime, and instead will just cause strange behavior).

Re:Using Javascript

[Anonymous Coward]

?
It's immediately cross platform, easy to use, and can run server side, client side, and the database itself with mongo db making it rather a one hit wonder. Plus it's FREE.

I see so much talk about javascript being hated, at the same time. I could never afford one of those ridiculous compilers which would create code I could never share properly with the world except those using specific machines with specific operating systems.

Sir, I implore you to purchase a crowbar and liberate your noggin from your gluteus maximus.

I can reach more people and much more quickly link disparate people together with javascript than I can with any other language.

Also if you right click on a website and open the developer console errors get shown there, you can also copy/paste javascript to JSHINT which will locate errors.

When you say refactor do you mean variable scope? Javascript variables are the way they are so that you can use them on the fly without having to pre-declare each and every variable along with it's type which is a god send not a problem. You perhaps just need to get a better handle on how the scope works, that isn't really a language problem, that's a logic problem with your mind.

We the poor have minds too just like a university educated person. Hell I programmed an entire CRM in javascript over the course of a year which is currently helping an HVAC company run their call center, setup services, keep track of technicians, each member has various roles and logins that result in their own interface (techs don't see what admins see etc). The techs are able to use the system in the feild on the fly via their cell phones since it's really all just a website. This is to say, we are coming for your walled garden of apps and operating systems, we are winning because it makes sense and works well.

Keep flailing your tiny fist of rage, I'll happily scoop your job, and do it better :)

Re:Using Javascript

[Zero__Kelvin]

I don't often agree with you, but even though I recognize that YHBT, you are correct. Typing systems are a critical part of any language system, and Javascript fails miserably in that regard. It's like saying in a world where autonomous cars are prevalent "The great thing about this car is that it will allow you to inadvertently drive into a wall at 90 MPH!"

Re:Everyone is underpaid.

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course this then raises the question of what's in it for the people who are actually answering the questions?

I can't speak for anyone but me, but I answer questions on Stack Overflow because I find that effectively communicating how something works requires organizing your thoughts in a way that is of benefit to my own work later, and as I get more seniority also helpful in my ability to explain concepts and ideas to others in my workplace.

In that regard, contributing to Stack Overflow does help me "level up", since it gives me somewhere to practice a skill that is critical to being a senior engineer and to cement my own understanding of concepts.