2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey: Top Languages, Databases, Frameworks, and AI Tool Usage

Stack Overflow released its 2023 Developer Survey, which gathered responses from more than 90,000 developers worldwide.

The survey highlights that JavaScript has been the most popular programming language for 11 consecutive years, while Python has overtaken SQL to become the third most popular language. Go and Rust also saw increased usage, and Zig emerged as the highest‑earning language with a median annual salary of $103,611.

PostgreSQL replaced MySQL as the most popular database, used by 49.09% of professional developers, followed by MySQL (40.59%) and SQLite (30.17%). Among learners, MySQL remains the most used, with MongoDB and SQLite also popular.

Node.js and React.js are the leading web technologies, with similar adoption among professional developers; learners favor Node.js slightly more. Other popular frameworks include jQuery, Express, Angular, Next.js, and Vue.js.

Visual Studio Code continues to be the preferred IDE, increasing its usage from 75% to 81% of respondents.

In the AI category, ChatGPT is the most popular AI search tool (used by 83% of respondents), followed by Bing AI, WolframAlpha, and Google Bard. GitHub Copilot is the leading AI development tool (55% usage), with Tabnine and AWS CodeWhisperer trailing.

Trust in AI tools remains moderate: less than 3% of users have high confidence in their accuracy, while about 6% have very low confidence; 39% express some trust.

Developers primarily use AI tools to assist with code writing, with secondary uses including debugging, documentation, learning codebases, and testing.

The majority of both professional developers and learners expect AI tools to change development workflows within the next year.

For the full report, visit https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/.