Errors vs Exceptions, Reddit Rebels, and the 2023 StackOverflow Survey

Language Trends

The latest StackOverflow survey reveals intriguing trends in programming language popularity and compensation. Michael Outlaw highlights niche languages like Zig, Erlang, and F# as the highest-paid, though he notes their limited job availability and specific use cases 1. Joe Zack adds that while these languages may offer high salaries, they are challenging to enter due to resource scarcity and competitive fields 1. Outlaw also discusses how the survey's audience skews towards backend programming, potentially affecting the visibility of languages like PHP and Delphi 2.

It's not that F# developers are making bank. It's more like there's not a whole lot of F# jobs out there.

--- Michael Outlaw

This skew highlights the importance of considering community and platform biases when interpreting survey data.

   

Framework Trends

Framework usage and popularity also show interesting patterns in the survey results. Alan Underwood notes that React remains dominant, with 40% usage, while Angular and Vue trail behind at 17% and 16%, respectively 3. Joe Zack observes that despite these numbers, the overall percentages for popular frameworks have decreased, suggesting a diversification in framework usage 4. Michael Outlaw finds it surprising that jQuery still ranks high, indicating its continued relevance in maintaining older software 4.

The only thing that changed were the percentages. Like, Node went down from 47 to 42, React went down from 42 to 40.

--- Joe Zack

This shift suggests that while some frameworks remain popular, developers are exploring a broader range of tools.