Key Findings from the 2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey: Popular Languages, Databases, Tools, and AI Usage

Stack Overflow released its 2023 Developer Survey, gathering responses from more than 90,000 developers worldwide. The full report covers developer demographics, technology usage, AI adoption, career trends, and community involvement, with this article focusing on the technology and AI sections.

Most Popular Programming Language

JavaScript has remained the most popular language for 11 consecutive years, while Python has moved up to the third position, surpassing SQL. Languages such as Bash/Shell, C, Ruby, Perl, and Erlang all improved their rankings, and the usage share of Go and Rust also increased compared with the previous year.

Highest‑Paying Programming Language

Zig developers reported a median annual salary of $103,611 (≈ ¥740,000), positioning Zig as the top‑earning language. Zig is designed for stability, maintainability, and performance, aiming to replace C in system programming. PHP and Dart ranked lowest in earnings, while Clojure, previously the highest‑paid, fell to fifth place.

Most Popular Database

PostgreSQL has overtaken MySQL to become the most popular database among professional developers, with 49.09% usage, up 2.61% from the previous year. MySQL remains second (40.59%), followed by SQLite (30.17%) and DynamoDB (10.31%). Among learners, MySQL (45.71%) and MongoDB (28.15%) are the top choices.

Most Popular Web Frameworks and Technologies

Node.js and React.js are the leading web technologies, with comparable adoption among professional developers; learners favor Node.js (52%) over React (48%). Other popular frameworks include jQuery, Express, Angular, Next.js, and Vue.js.

Most Popular Integrated Development Environment

Visual Studio Code remains the preferred IDE, with usage rising from 75% to 81% of respondents.

Most Popular AI Search Tool

ChatGPT is the dominant AI search tool, used by 83% of respondents, followed by Bing AI (20%), WolframAlpha (13%), and Google Bard AI (10%).

Most Popular AI Development Tool

GitHub Copilot leads as the AI development assistant, used by 55% of developers, with Tabnine (13%) and AWS CodeWhisperer (5%) trailing.

Trust in AI Tools

Less than 3% of users have high trust in AI tool accuracy, while about 6% have very low trust. Approximately 39% express moderate trust, and 30% are neutral.

AI Tool Usage Scenarios

The vast majority of developers use AI tools to help write code; other uses include debugging, documentation, learning codebases, and testing.

Future Expectations for AI Tools

Both professional developers and learners anticipate that AI tools will noticeably change development workflows within the next year.

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