Launching the first ever State of Devs survey

I've been running developer surveys (the State of JS, State of CSS, and more) for nearly a decade now. And I've learned a ton about which front end framework developers prefer, which new HTML elements they'd like to see, and even which AI models they like best. But all these questions merely scratch the surface of who we really are. After all, even the most dedicated among us still spend a lot of time doing things that aren't coding. So why not ask about them, too? Introducing the State of Devs This is exactly where the new State of Devs survey comes in: a survey for everything that isn't coding, from health, to hobbies, to career, and more. A Survey for Everybody The starting point for this whole process was a topic I've written about many times before: the lack of diversity both in the developer community, and especially in our survey data. After trying an array of different outreach strategies with varying success, a thought hit me: maybe I had it all wrong? Instead of trying to bring a new audience to the existing surveys, I should bring a new survey to this audience. In other words, one of the goals of this survey is to focus at least in part on questions that directly impact women, people of color, people experiencing disabilities, and anybody else who doesn't fit squarely in the mold of the median developer: And of course, questions about career issues and their impact on your experience can be very relevant even if you don't consider yourself to be part of a minoritized group: I think this is all especially valuable at a time when "DEI" is becoming a new taboo, and a lot of the important work that has been done to make things slightly better over the past decade is at risk of being reversed. The Big Questions Another trending idea that often goes hand-in-hand with the anti-DEI backlash is the idea that the workplace should be kept free of any political discussion. And while I can sympathize with wanting a break from the chaos surrounding us, there also comes a point when you just turn into the “this is fine” dog. It's becoming harder and harder to ignore the world's many issues in 2025, especially given that the tech community as a whole is at the center of many of them: Truth be told, I was hoping to have a more in-depth section about politics in the survey. But after some research, I realized that doing this properly would require more time than I could afford. But do leave a comment below if you'd like me to keep exploring in that direction next year. Remembering to Have Fun All that being said, I also didn't want to reduce life to just workplace issues and existential dread. So there's also a section dedicated to hobbies, from sports, to movies, to music: Go Take the Survey! 2025 is a weird year to say the least. Between climate change and political instability on one hand, and the promise of accelerating progress and ever more powerful AI on the other, it's hard to know what the future will bring. So if like me you'd like to help answer these big questions –or at take us 0.0001% of the way towards it– then please take the State of Devs 2025 survey!

Apr 18, 2025 - 07:45

Launching the first ever State of Devs survey

I've been running developer surveys (the State of JS, State of CSS, and more) for nearly a decade now.

And I've learned a ton about which front end framework developers prefer, which new HTML elements they'd like to see, and even which AI models they like best.

But all these questions merely scratch the surface of who we really are. After all, even the most dedicated among us still spend a lot of time doing things that aren't coding. So why not ask about them, too?

Introducing the State of Devs

This is exactly where the new State of Devs survey comes in: a survey for everything that isn't coding, from health, to hobbies, to career, and more.

A Survey for Everybody

The starting point for this whole process was a topic I've written about many times before: the lack of diversity both in the developer community, and especially in our survey data.

After trying an array of different outreach strategies with varying success, a thought hit me: maybe I had it all wrong? Instead of trying to bring a new audience to the existing surveys, I should bring a new survey to this audience.

In other words, one of the goals of this survey is to focus at least in part on questions that directly impact women, people of color, people experiencing disabilities, and anybody else who doesn't fit squarely in the mold of the median developer:

And of course, questions about career issues and their impact on your experience can be very relevant even if you don't consider yourself to be part of a minoritized group:

I think this is all especially valuable at a time when "DEI" is becoming a new taboo, and a lot of the important work that has been done to make things slightly better over the past decade is at risk of being reversed.

The Big Questions

Another trending idea that often goes hand-in-hand with the anti-DEI backlash is the idea that the workplace should be kept free of any political discussion.

And while I can sympathize with wanting a break from the chaos surrounding us, there also comes a point when you just turn into the “this is fine” dog.

It's becoming harder and harder to ignore the world's many issues in 2025, especially given that the tech community as a whole is at the center of many of them:

Truth be told, I was hoping to have a more in-depth section about politics in the survey. But after some research, I realized that doing this properly would require more time than I could afford. But do leave a comment below if you'd like me to keep exploring in that direction next year.

Remembering to Have Fun

All that being said, I also didn't want to reduce life to just workplace issues and existential dread.

So there's also a section dedicated to hobbies, from sports, to movies, to music:

Go Take the Survey!

2025 is a weird year to say the least. Between climate change and political instability on one hand, and the promise of accelerating progress and ever more powerful AI on the other, it's hard to know what the future will bring.

So if like me you'd like to help answer these big questions –or at take us 0.0001% of the way towards it– then please take the State of Devs 2025 survey!