The 2015 Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Originally published at: http://www.sitepoint.com/2015-stack-overflow-developer-survey/
If you’re reading this, you’re probably a male developer in your late twenties who’s been doing the job for up to five years. You taught yourself to program, use a Windows PC with Notepad++ and class yourself as a full-stack developer. You use Git and JavaScript frequently and drink two cups of coffee per day.

That’s the profile of the average Stack Overflow developer from their 45-question 2015 survey. It received 26,086 responses from technically-minded people in 157 countries. Let’s look at the results in more detail…

Developers, Developers, Developers

How many developers are there in your country? The highest is Luxembourg with 39.8 developers per 1,000 people (perhaps you know someone who’s a 0.8!) Several Scandinavian countries come second with 35 developers per 1,000 while Somalia, Chad and North Korea have the fewest.

The average developer is 28.9 years old. They tend to be a little older in Western countries and younger in developing countries: 31.6 for the US compared to 25 for India.

Depressingly, 92.1% of us are male. Development has a gender balance problem but I doubt it would reach 50-50 even if discrimination were not a factor.
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They certainly are fascinating stats. I’m glad that each country has figures like 37.1 developers per thousand people, as I’m one of those .1 people, and I’m glad I’m not alone. :stuck_out_tongue:

I hope I’m not alone in sometimes drinking more than three caffeine-related drinks per day. Or if I am, I’d better see a doctor. :open_mouth:

Development has a gender balance problem but I doubt it would reach 50-50 even if discrimination were not a factor.

I’ve just been reading WomenOfSiliconValley so this is probably the feminist in me overriding my don’t-jump-to-conclusions sensibilities, but your doubt sounds in itself like you’ve made some sexist assumptions.

Just sayin’.

I thought I might get slammed for that comment! But I stand by it.

Whether it’s nature or nurture, IT attracts more men than women. As does motor sport, football, beer, computer games, etc. Is that a problem? Or are men and women (generally) wired differently?

Admittedly, some women could disregard IT because of the male domination. However, it’s largely a solo pursuit; if you enjoy programming, you’ll do it. In fact, IT is one of the only industries where it’s possible to hide your gender, race, age, disabilities, etc. It’s more important you can do the job.

Positive and negative sexism exists in all industries. It looks worse in IT but I’m not convinced that’s because IT is inherently more sexist.

But I’m a man. What would I know?!

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I hear you ceeb and stand by your comment.

Interesting infographic.

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