Anatomy of a Developer: What Drives This Tech Pro?
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Anatomy of a Developer: What Drives This Tech Pro?
This report covers a range of developer-related topics, including salary information, job satisfaction levels, employment status and demographic information. -
Seasoned Workforce
58% of the developers surveyed have at least six years of programming experience, and 35% have at least 11 years. -
Top Median Salaries for Developer Jobs
Engineering manager: $145,000, Executive: $145,000, Data scientist: $95,000, Back-end Web developer: $95,000, Mobile developer: $85,000 -
Next Five Median Salaries for Developer Jobs
Desktop developer: $85,000, Full-stack Web developer: $85,000, Database admin: $75,000, Front-end Web developer: $75,000, System admin: $65,000 -
Top Forms of Formal Education
B.S. in computer science: 41%, Online classes: 27%, College courses in computer science or related field: 25%, Master's degree in computer science: 12% -
DIY/On the Fly
69% of the developers surveyed claim to be self-taught, while 46% said they learned through on-the-job training. -
Full Engagement
More than three-quarters said they are satisfied with their job, and 36% said they "love" their job. -
What Developers Like to Do at Work
Learn new technologies: 66%, Build something new: 59%, Have control over product decisions: 45% -
Creative License
55% of the developers surveyed said they check in or commit code (building code rather than fixing bugs) multiple times a day. -
Developers' Biggest Challenges
Unspecific requirements: 33%, Unrealistic expectations: 32%, Poor documentation: 32%, Fragile code base: 30%, Inefficient development process: 30% -
Working Status
83% of the developers surveyed are employed full-time, while nearly 10% describe themselves as freelancers, contractors or self-employed. -
Well-Positioned
Three out of 10 developers said they're not actively looking for a job, but are open to new opportunities. 14% said they are actively looking for a new job. -
Criteria for Accepting a New Job
Attractive salary: 61%, Work-life balance: 52%, Company culture: 43% -
Name Game
14% of the developers surveyed like to think of themselves as "hackers,'' while 9% said they are professional "ninjas," and another 9% think of themselves as "rock stars." -
Another World
51% of them believe in aliens.
When it comes to what tasks they like to do on the job, developers want to learn new technologies while building code, according to a recent survey from Stack Overflow. The resulting "Developer Hiring Landscape" report covers a wide range of developer-related topics, including salary information, job satisfaction levels, employment status and demographic information. With respect to compensation, engineering managers and developers who have attained executive status rank at the top. But data scientists and back-end Web developers are doing pretty well too. As for the demographics: The average developer is male, lives in the United States, is between 25 and 29 years old, and works for a company with 20 to 99 employees. Most are happy about the work they do: It helps that a majority of them actually get to check in or commit code multiple times a day, instead of just fixing bugs. The report also reveals how much formal education developers have completed, and how many consider themselves self-taught. It even includes a fun fact about whether these developers believe in aliens. More than 56,000 developers from 173 countries took part in the research.