UK developers are most contented in the world, finds report
Java and Javascript named most popular languages, with YouTube as top learning tool


The UK has the happiest IT programmers in the world, according to French coding platform CodinGame.
The Montpellier-based firm released its annual IT developers survey, which asks programmers about their work and the industry at large.
Over 20,000 IT developers from 120 different countries took part in the survey, answering questions on how and where they learnt to code, which language they use and how happy they're in their jobs.
When asked how much they love their work on a scale of one to 10, globally 66.4% answered between 7 and 10. The UK came out on top with its developers averaging of 7.40 for happiness. Canada and the US came second and third respectively.
With regard to the tools of the trade, the most popular languages were Javascript (65.46%), Java (62.74%) and Python (57.13%) with over half the respondents saying they knew how to code in all three. But familiarity doesn't necessarily breed love: Java and Javascript also featured high on a list of most-dreaded languages with 23.93% of developers saying they hated Java and 21.29% for Javascript.
One in three developers considered themselves self-taught coders, according to the survey, learning via free resources such as textbooks and online tutorials on sites like YouTube. However, the majority (58.2%) say they honed their skills at either university or school with none simply learning "on the job".
RELATED RESOURCE
Application security fallacies and realities
Web application attacks are the most common vulnerability, so what is the truth about application security?
The studies continue when they leave full-time education as coding, like any language, is a skill that needs constant practice. YouTube, again, features heavily in this regard as 60.8% of the developers surveyed said it is their favourite medium to bone up on coding. Online tutorials and blogs proved very popular with the participants with a massive 64.9% saying they boost coding knowledge this way.
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
What's more, one in three programmers said they keep up their skills up by coding for more than one hour a day in their own time.
Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.
-
84% of software developers are now using AI, but nearly half 'don't trust' the technology over accuracy concerns
News AI coding tools are delivering benefits for developers, but they’re still worried about security and compliance
-
Think AI coding tools are speeding up work? Think again – they’re actually slowing developers down
News AI coding tools may be hindering the work of experienced software developers, according to new research
-
OpenAI's plan to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf ended in disaster – here’s how the deal fell apart
News The acquisition by Cognition comes after a rumored $3bn offer from OpenAI fell through
-
AI coding tools are booming – and developers in this one country are by far the most frequent users
News AI coding tools are soaring in popularity worldwide, but developers in one particular country are among the most frequent users.
-
MCP servers used by developers and 'vibe coders' are riddled with vulnerabilities – here’s what you need to know
News Security researchers have issued a warning over rampant vulnerabilities found in MCP servers used by developers and 'vibe coders'.
-
Big tech promised developers productivity gains with AI tools – now they’re being rendered obsolete
Opinion Big tech promised software developers huge benefits with AI tools, but now they face job cuts as companies ramp up automation.
-
Anthropic’s new AI model could be a game changer for developers: Claude Opus 4 ‘pushes the boundaries in coding’, dramatically outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4.1, and can code independently for seven hours
News Claude Opus 4 boasts huge performance capabilities and is fine-tuned for software developers.
-
‘It’s far from showing its age’: Java might’ve just turned 30, but it’s still going strong and here to stay
News With Java celebrating its 30th anniversary, we look at the rise of the programming language and what the future holds.