In the latest Stack Overflow Developer Survey of 2023, Docker outperformed npm as the most widely used technology among developers. Previously, in 2022, Docker held the second position behind npm. While novices in coding continue to prefer npm alongside JavaScript and Python, Docker is rapidly gaining traction in the developer community.
The 2023 survey showed that developers are almost twice as likely to employ Docker next year compared to other available technologies. This finding underscores Docker's growing popularity among developers who aim to stick with familiar tools when possible.
Among other developments, markdown has secured a spot in the top three async tools, with 26% of developers using it. It ranks third, coming after Jira with 52% and Confluence with 34%. In the case of developers still learning to code, markdown rises to the second position, trailing only GitHub Discussions. As for Jira and Confluence, these are used by merely 13% and 5% of these novice developers, respectively.
Phoenix retains its position as the most admired web framework. It had surpassed Svelte as the most loved framework in 2022, and this year, developers expressed their preference for working with it over more common web frameworks like React, Node.js, and Next.js.
Rust remains the most admired language overall, with 80% of developers eager to use it next year. This represents a slight dip from the 87% reported in the 2022 survey. On the other hand, the percentage of developers learning to code online has risen from 70% to 80% this year. Technical documentation, Stack Overflow, and blogs emerged as the top three online resources for developers seeking answers.
Interestingly, 63% of survey respondents reported spending a minimum of 30 minutes every day browsing online for answers to their coding questions. This trend is more apparent among individual contributors than people managers.
In terms of remuneration, 2023 witnessed a new language securing the highest pay: Zig, with a median salary of $103,611. In 2022, Clojure and Erlang topped the highest-paid list; however, Clojure experienced a 10% decline in pay this year, slipping to the fifth position. Erlang maintained its second spot, with a median salary of $99,492. Furthermore, Dart and SAS witnessed more than 20% growth in median pay since last year. Dart developers earned a median of $55,862, while SAS developers made a median of $81,000 in 2023.
Despite concerns about rising inflation in 2023, the survey data indicates that developers remain largely undeterred from pursuing opportunities to enhance their skills. In fact, 70% of those surveyed plan to incorporate AI tools into their development processes this year, with 42% of ChatGPT users expressing interest in trying Google Bard or Bing AI the following year.
As the tech industry continues to evolve, it's crucial for developers to adapt and explore cutting-edge tools and resources. Platforms such as AppMaster, a powerful no-code tool for backend, web, and mobile applications, enables developers to maximize productivity and streamline the development process.
As developers further embrace tools like Docker, Phoenix, and Rust, their skill sets and the resulting applications will continue to forge ahead. AI tools, in particular, are poised to reshape the future of application development for years to come.
