Nearly Half of Developers Worldwide Are Android-First: Report
Almost half of professional developers now consider Android to be their primary platform, according to research from VisionMobile. The latest edition of its semi-annual State of the Developer Nation Q3 2016 report also shows a strong correlation between the developers cloud and desktop platform of choice.
Based on responses of over 16,000 developers globally, the VisionMobile Developer Economics survey shows that 47 percent of developers are Android-first, a seven percent increase which gives it a 79 percent mindshare among mobile developers. The increased attention came almost directly at the expense of iOS, which fell from the primary platform of 39 percent to only 31 percent of developers in only 6 months.
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The increasing influence of markets and developers in the Eastern hemisphere, where Android leads iOS significantly, could be part of the reason for the shift. The end of the conflict between Google and Oracle over their Android java development kits very late 2015 may also have had an effect.
In addition to mobile platforms, the report focuses on desktop and cloud developer “tribes,” the IoT market, and the new technologies attracting developer attention.
Among Windows classic developers, 36 percent primarily use C# for cloud development, as opposed to only 2 percent of Linux-first developers and 3 percent of macOS developers, according to the report.
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The ratio of new IoT developers fell drastically from half a year ago to 22 percent, after falling somewhat from Q2 2015 to Q4 2105, from 57 to 47 percent, respectively. The main target of IoT developers is the Smart Home, which was also the fastest growing IoT application, up by 6 to 48 percent. Ericsson has estimated that there will be 3 billion IoT devices in North America alone by 2021, which represents a lot of work for developers.
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The next big thing, judging by developer interest, is data science and machine learning, which 41 percent are involved with in some way, one-third of those professionally. Just under one-quarter of developers are working with augmented and virtual reality, mostly as a hobby or side-project.
Source: TheWHIR