HackerEarth, a San Francisco-based company that connects developers around the globe with employment opportunities, recently released a survey of more than 16,000 developers, providing insight into their interests, priorities and concerns.
Data
science
is
king
Among
the
survey’s
findings
is
the
proportion
who
expressed
having
a
keen
interest
in
data
science
—
among
respondents,
63%
of
student
developers
and
61%
of
working
professionals
indicated
that
data
science
is
the
most
sought-after
developer
skill.
Proficiency in data science was followed by expertise in cybersecurity (36% of students, 26% of professionals), the Internet of Things (32% of students, 35% of professionals) and blockchain (28% of students, 32% of professionals).
Go
is
the
programming
language
to
go
to
When
asking
about
programming
languages,
the
survey
revealed
that
29%
of
students and
32%
of
experienced
developers
indicated
that
Go
is
the programming
language
they
are
most
interested
in
learning.
The survey also found that student developers are interested in learning to program in JavaScript, Kotlin and C#, while working professionals are looking to learn Python and Kotlin. Top programming languages that student developers know are C++, Python and HTML/CSS, while senior developers frequently code in SQL, Java and HTML/CSS.
Other findings from the survey
- Developers who worked longer hours were happier at their jobs, provided that work is meaningful and challenging
- 70% of developers reported that fewer meetings would greatly improve their productivity
- 70% of student developers and 53% of working professionals use online coding platforms to improve their skills
- Developers also depend heavily on YouTube tutorials to acquire new skills, along with online educational platforms such as Coursera and Udemy and developer platforms such as StackOverflow
The 2020 HackerEarth developer survey was conducted from January to February 2020. In total, 16,655 developers, of which 20% were female, across 76 countries responded to the survey.