As 2022 begins to draw to a close, we ask: what is the current state of software development, what are the top trends, languages, and what should developers focus on next year?

We took a look at three different reports from three separate sources, including HackerRank, Jamstack, and SlashData. Each report surveyed software developers across the world and charted language usage, rising trends, skill sets, and made assessments about the overall state of the development ecosystem.

Top programming languages in 2022

The 2023 HackerRank Developer Skills Report collected data regarding the most commonly used programming languages. The top five most common languages were:

1. Python
2. JavaScript

According to HackerRank’s data, the fastest-growing languages are Go, with a 301% year over year growth, and TypeScript, with a 392% year over year growth. Meanwhile, both Swift and Ruby saw a dramatic decrease in usage this year.

The Jamstack Community Survey 2022 also saw a rise in TypeScript usage, with a 67% growth this year. 21% of respondents reported that they even use TypeScript as their main programming language. From this data, it looks like more JavaScript developers are beginning to migrate away from JavaScript and use TypeScript instead.

SlashData’s State of the Developer Nation 2023 shows slightly different numbers in their rankings. Their top five programming languages are:

1. JavaScript
2. Python
3. C/C++

SlashData estimates that there are nearly 20 million JavaScript developers worldwide and continues to grow. In the past two years, there were an estimated 7.3 million new JavaScript developers who joined the community and started learning the language. Its most common use cases are applications for third-party systems and the cloud.

In-demand skills and trends

What should developers focus on in the coming year? HackerRank looked at in-demand skills that employers are looking for and their trajectory.

• Data science: Machine learning, data science, and data analysis continue to see rising use in the programming ecosystem and are highly in-demand from both developers and employers. HackerRank reports that machine learning is currently the leading in-demand discipline.
• Kubernetes: Docker adoption has slowed and has been overtaken by Kubernetes.
• REST API: When it comes to slow and steady, REST API is a consistent, stable choice and has grown reliably over the years without any dramatic changes.
• Serverless: According to Jamstack, serverless technologies and edge computing are growing quickly. Usage has grown from 47% to 71%.

Top frameworks in 2022

The report from Jamstack honed in on 29 different web frameworks and their current usage. From their findings, the top five most commonly used frameworks for the web were:

1. React
2. Express
3. Next.js
4. jQuery

2022 was a big year for React and will likely see strong numbers and an even wider adoption rate. According to Jamstack:

With high satisfaction scores last year, we predicted [React] would continue to grow and that was borne out this year, hitting a new record of 71% share, the highest of any framework we’ve tracked in all 3 years.

However, SlashData paints a different picture. They found that, on average, developers with more experience were more likely to use jQuery and less likely to use React.

Their report shows that web developers are using fewer client- or server-side frameworks than ever before.

Notably, the only frameworks to grow in popularity over the past six months were Spring and Next.js.

What are developers working on?

The Jamstack is an architectural approach to frontend development that combines JavaScript, API, and Markup (JAM) focused on making the web more scalable, faster, and more secure. According to the Jamstack Community Survey 2022, most developers are using the Jamstack to produce personal websites, consumer software, B2B software, and sites for e-commerce and informational sites.

Meanwhile, SlashData’s State of the Developer Nation 2023 reports that blockchain is still attracting large amounts of active development work. According to their data, 25% of all developers are currently either working on or learning about blockchain in applications other than cryptocurrencies.