The global developer population is expected to reach 28.7 million people by 2024, an increase of 3.2 million from the number seen in 2020. According to the source, much of this growth is expected to occur in China, where the growth rate is between six percent to eight percent heading up to 2023. How much do software developers earn in the U.S.? Software developers work within a wide array of specialties, honing their skills in different programming languages, techniques, or in disciplines such as design. The average salary of U.S.-based designers working in software development reached 108 thousand U.S. dollars as of June 2021, while this figure climbs to 165 thousand U.S. dollars for engineering managers. Salaries are highly dependent on location, however, with an entry-level developer working in the San Francisco/Bay area earning an average of 44.79 percent more than their counterparts starting out in Austin. JavaScript and HTML/CSS still the most widely used languages While programming languages continue to emerge or fall out of favor, JavaScript and HTML/CSS are mainstays of the coding landscape. In a global survey of software developers, over 60 percent of respondents reported using JavaScript, and HTML/CSS. SQL, Python, and Java rounded out the top five.

As of 2024, JavaScript and HTML/CSS were the most commonly used programming languages among software developers around the world, with more than 62 percent of respondents stating that they used JavaScript and just around 53 percent using HTML/CSS. Python, SQL, and TypeScript rounded out the top five most widely used programming languages around the world. Programming languages At a very basic level, programming languages serve as sets of instructions that direct computers on how to behave and carry out tasks. Thanks to the increased prevalence of, and reliance on, computers and electronic devices in today’s society, these languages play a crucial role in the everyday lives of people around the world. An increasing number of people are interested in furthering their understanding of these tools through courses and bootcamps, while current developers are constantly seeking new languages and resources to learn to add to their skills. Furthermore, programming knowledge is becoming an important skill to possess within various industries throughout the business world. Job seekers with skills in Python, R, and SQL will find their knowledge to be among the most highly desirable data science skills and likely assist in their search for employment.

In 2024, a global developer survey revealed that approximately ** percent of the developers identified as male, while the share of female developers globally stood at around ** percent. This majority representation of males in the developer community underscores the historical trend of male dominance in the tech industry and highlights the challenges and barriers that women may face in entering or advancing in this field.

According to a global software developer survey in 2022, the vast majority of developers are males, accounting for ***** percent of all respondents. Female developers amounted to only **** percent of all respondents, demonstrating the male-dominating reality of software development jobs. Gender imbalance in the tech industry The tech industry has an overwhelming gender imbalance, in which women at leading tech companies tend to be the minority. Consider Dell’s workforce and Intel’s workforce as an example. In both leading tech companies, women make up only around ** percent of the workforce. Computing related positions in the United States vary on gender breakdown, with computer hardware engineers ranking the lowest in terms of gender diversity as of late. Diversity & inclusion initiatives When tech industry CEOs and founders were asked whether diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives were effective, **** indicated that they were not effective. This comes at an interesting time, especially given the overall gender imbalance in the tech industry. Not to mention, the majority of senior management positions within the IT industry are dominated by men. Diversity and inclusion initiatives could help to resolve workplace harassment and unequal treatment that many female executives experience within the tech industry today.

According to the survey, ** percent of the software developers had bachelor degrees and just over ** percent had attained a Master's degree of some form as of 2024. Additionally, around *** percent had obtained some sort of professional degree.

According to the survey, the size of the JavaScript programming language community is roughly **** percent of software developers as of 2023, making it the most popular programming language in the world. Python is also a popular community for programmers, with **** percent of developers.

Most software developers worldwide report the use of Windows operating system as their preferred development environment, as of 2021. Apple’s macOS was the second preferred operating system, followed by Linux. What is software development?   Software development refers to the process of creating, designing, and supporting software. It includes all the computer activities involved between the conception to the final manifestation of software. These activities are usually planned and put into stages in a logical order called the software development life cycle (SDLC). The software industry is an integral part of the IT market as the creative engine of the ever-involving market, and tech companies spend relentlessly on the development of new software products and the improvement of current ones. As such, software developers are well paid for their work. Programming languages & salary   The increasing demand for software developers is set to see their total population increase from over 20 million in 2018 to close to 29 million in 2024. Among a good deal of different programming language options, JavaScript is the most widely used programming language by software developers worldwide. Languages such as Erlang, however, which brings in the highest wages with averages of over 100,000 U.S. dollars per year as opposed to the 60,000 U.S. dollars earned on average by Java developers.

The statistic shows the different industries where software developers are employed worldwide as of early 2019. According to the survey, 7.6 percent of developers are employed in the web development or design industry and 10.9 percent are employed in the information technology industry.

In March 2025, a total of ***** developer tools were available to customers on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) marketplace. Most tools belonged to the virtual machines type, with ***** tools, followed by tools for software as a service (SaaS) and APIs with ***.

Flutter is the most popular cross-platform mobile framework used by global developers, according to a 2023 developer survey. Based on the survey, 46 percent of software developers used Flutter. On the whole, roughly one third of mobile developers use cross-platform technologies or frameworks; the rest of mobile developers use native tools. Cross-platform mobile frameworks Simply put, cross-platform mobile frameworks are used to generate an app that is accessible through a large number of various end devices. A single code is used across multiple platforms for easy portability, and in the end the cost of software development is kept low. With cross-platform mobile frameworks, there is the possibility of maximum exposure to the target audience. For example, a single app can target both iOS and Android platforms, which maximizes the app’s reach. App developers In 2022, there were 26.4 million software developers worldwide. The number of developers is expected to grow in the coming years, especially due to the rise of app and web development in the growing digital age. Of the various kinds of software developers, mobile developers are among the lowest on the developer pay scale. Mobile developers on average make an annual salary of over 124,000 U.S. dollars, while engineering managers are the highest-paid software developers with an annual average salary of 96,000 U.S. dollars.

In 2024, over ** percent of developers worldwide reported using the Windows operating system for personal use, but only ** percent reported using the OS when working. MacOS, based on Unix, had the second-largest share at ** percent of developers using it for both personal and professional use, respectively. Linux dominates the rest of the market Among developers, Linux-based operating systems are highly favored for their flexibility and robust development environments, with Ubuntu ranking as the third most widely used distribution globally. Furthermore, other Linux distributions gained significant traction, such as Debian, Arch, Fedora, and Google’s ChromeOS among others. Android as the top mobile OS for developers When it came to mobile operating systems, Android had the highest percentage of developers using it both personally and professionally, while Apple's iOS and iPadOS held significantly lower shares. This trend extends beyond software development; Android's appeal is further highlighted by the fact that over one in 4 game developers globally report it as their preferred gaming platform, making it also one of the most popular platforms for game development worldwide.

In 2020, approximately ** percent of respondents from a global survey saw some increase of software developers' productivity since the onset of remote work enforced by COVID-19. Overall, about **** percent of respondents report remote work setups having a positive impact on developer productivity.

Senior Executive was the highest-earning software development job worldwide as of 2024, with the average annual salary amounting to around *** thousand U.S. dollars. Developer advocate and engineering manager were the other developer jobs with high salaries. Software developer A software developer, or more commonly known as a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates software by using computer languages. There are two main types of software developers: application developer – those who design computer or mobile applications – and system developer – those who focus on operating systems-level software and network distribution software. In 2021, there were around **** million software developers worldwide. Programming languages A programming language is a formal language that instruct a computer or computing device to perform certain tasks. Languages that software developers use to write code are called “high-level languages”; these can be complied into a “low-level language” which can be understood by the computer hardware. Programming languages that are most used by developers include JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL, and Python. Clojure, F# and Elixir, on the other hand, are the languages associated with the highest salaries.

The statistic shows the global developer salary expectations of software developers compared to market values, as of early 2017. According to the survey, many developers (**** percent) reported that they felt somewhat underpaid compared to their market value, while **** percent reported that they were neither underpaid nor overpaid. Only *** percent of respondents reported that they believed they were somewhat overpaid.

Node.js overtook React.js to become the most used web framework among software developers worldwide, as of 2024. According to the survey, 40.8 percent of respondents reported to be using Node.js, while around 39.5 percent were using React.js. Web framework A web framework, or what may sometimes be referred to as a web application framework is a software framework that supports the overall software development of web applications. Web frameworks are utilized to automate menial activities typically performed within web development. In other words, it simplifies the web development process and, therefore, makes it easier to build a website. JavaScript As aforementioned, before being overtaken by React.js, jQuery had been the most used web framework out of the millions of software developers throughout the world. Simply put, jQuery is a cross-platform JavaScript library, that simplifies the usage of JavaScript on websites. While jQuery may be losing popularity, JavaScript still remains one of the most popular programming languages used by software developers worldwide. Throughout the world, programming languages are associated with different salaries. JavaScript programmers are associated with a global salary of 65,580 U.S. dollars, while the salary associated with JavaScript programmers in the United States is significantly more, at 112,000 U.S. dollars.

JavaScript and Java were some of the most tested programming languages on the DevSkiller platform as of 2024. SQL and Python ranked second and fourth, with ** percent and ** percent of respondents testing this language in 2024, respectively. Nevertheless, the tech skill developers wanted to learn the most in 2024 was related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning. At the same time, the fastest growing IT skills among DevSkiller customers were C/C++ and data science, while cybersecurity ranked third. Software skills When it came to the most used programming language among developers worldwide, JavaScript took the top spot, chosen by 62 percent of surveyed respondents. Most software developers learn how to code between 11 and 17 years old, with some of them writing their first line of code by the age of 5. Moreover, seven out of 10 developers learned how to program by accessing online resources such as videos and blogs. Software skills pay In 2024, the average annual software developer’s salary in the U.S. amounted to nearly ** thousand U.S. dollars, while in Germany, it totaled above ** thousand U.S. dollars. The programming languages associated with the highest salaries worldwide in 2024 were Clojure and Erlang.

The most demanded programming languages by recruiters in 2025 were Python, JavaScript, and Java, with around ** percent of recruiters looking to hire people with these programming skills.

The most popular programming language used in the past 12 months by software developers worldwide is JavaScript as of 2024, according to ** percent of the software developers surveyed. This is followed by Python at ** percent of the respondents surveyed.

An early 2021 survey of global game developers found that 39 percent of respondents were working in the United States, followed by Canada with 12 percent. Finland and Sweden were the top-ranked locations for game developers in Europe, accounting for eight and six percent of respondents respectively.

In the past decade, the number of developers using the GitHub platform has grown from just ************* users in 2013 to *** million users in 2023. GitHub was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for a whopping *** billion U.S. dollars.