Does anyone know any rough demographics for previous years? I've always had they impression that this is what the curve looked like, even back in the early 2000s.
From what I see at Delphi related conferences during the last 20 years there seems to be a slow shift to younger developers again. And it looks like most of these younger developers get attracted by the mobile development possibilities. But as always with statistics: this gives just a small impression about conference attendees only but not actual users.
The entire development community for all languages is getting older. The local .Net events are filled with middle aged guys with a smattering of youngsters.
Richard Baroniunas You max out at 5 options on these G+ polls. I was going to do one for the continents, but even if you leave out Antarctica, you still come up one short.
I just did a query of our Delphi customer registration database and the top 15 countries with Delphi developers (paid versions, NOT free or trial or pirated) are: 1) US, 2) Germany, 3) Japan, 4) Great Britain, 5) France, 6) Brazil, 7) Russia, 8) China, 9) Netherlands, 10) Poland, 11) South Africa, 12) Canada, 13) Australia, 14) Italy, 15) South Korea. Of course, this is not a poll or membership count for communities, forums, or other social places.
Krasimir Ivanov For this online social community maybe it looks bad, but this is a minor subset of the whole global Delphi community and I wonder if it is a representative sample of the demographics? Unfortunately, we don't ask paid registered Delphi developers what their age is :(
I wonder if you found Java, C#, C++, Javascript community age polls on social media sites like this - would you see the same demographics? Are younger developers still in school (and too busy for this)? Are young developers too busy at start-ups and early in their careers to take part in polls?
David Intersimone On the code2014 survey you did not complain about its result - it was as representative as this one. ;)
However my goal when making this was not to make a point but just out of curiosity - and as someone already said to see how many of the 5.5k people in this community are actually active enough to click a button.
I could write a long essay about my opinions what could/should be done to attract young developers to chose Delphi as their language as I am luckily in a position to do so (we are offering at least one apprenticeship for software developer every year in the company I work for) but I am pestering Marco a lot with that stuff already :)
As for the Stackoverflow numbers: I would be interested in the age profile of those active in questions with the delphi tag as that would be looking very different I am very sure. The proof that the ages of the participants of the survey are not representative is shown here: http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2015#tech-lang
To offset the balance a bit more: my mother actively uses Delphi and is 85! I count in the upper section at 57 ;) And yes, she has a valid license, but is probably not registered as such at Embarcadero. She uses one of mine.
feel its poised for a big resurgence, just a matter of time, though it has lost a lot to competitors lately during its low period, the loss apparently seems to lower the pace
Michael Thuma No actually. But when I showed her Delphi 2 back in the days she was amazed and got hooked. So, yes, she counts as a seasoned developer, be it not a professional one ;) Doesn't do much anymore, but she's really gifted. She's the kind that teaches other pensioners computer skills and then comments: Those old people will never learn... while they are probably 10 years younger or more
Still in love with Delphi. However, I am a bit concerned that the <25 age group percent is so low. That means that there is not as much enthusiasm for Delphi at that age bracket as there was when we started back in 1995. I'm 42 now.
David Intersimone, there's something amiss when India isn't in the top 15. The country has over a billion people and a decent % of developers.... Just the sheer volume should have put it in the top 5 (if not 3). To me, it means there's a lot of untapped potential.
Does anyone know any rough demographics for previous years? I've always had they impression that this is what the curve looked like, even back in the early 2000s.
ReplyDeleteMan I'm getting old, started Delphi comfortably in the < 25 bracket.
ReplyDeleteI guess I need to get all my coworkers voting to fill the <25 and 25-34 brackets to make this look less worrying :)
ReplyDeleteReally nice to see 42 percent in the younger group, at DDD 2015 there were more senior developers.
ReplyDeleteMy son is 13 and is starting to learn it..
ReplyDeleteHow about me. Still very active. And programming.55>
ReplyDeleteSee who am i https://plus.google.com/+StefanGlienke/posts/KrnRCBFrjpy
ReplyDeleteInteresting demographics. Not really surprising.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I see at Delphi related conferences during the last 20 years there seems to be a slow shift to younger developers again. And it looks like most of these younger developers get attracted by the mobile development possibilities.
ReplyDeleteBut as always with statistics: this gives just a small impression about conference attendees only but not actual users.
The entire development community for all languages is getting older. The local .Net events are filled with middle aged guys with a smattering of youngsters.
ReplyDeleteZoë Peterson I suspect the curve over the years shows an aging community for Delphi -- and for any other language or tool you'd care to mention.
ReplyDelete59% under the age of 44. Not bad.
ReplyDeleteAlso this poll is a nice way to count the number of active Delphi community members in G+.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a poll on which country or area has the most Delphi developers.
ReplyDeleteRichard Baroniunas You max out at 5 options on these G+ polls. I was going to do one for the continents, but even if you leave out Antarctica, you still come up one short.
ReplyDeleteYoung Delphi programmers in South Korea, India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Russia at our events in those countries.
ReplyDeleteDavid Intersimone Delphi, the programming language of the BRICS countries :)
ReplyDeleteNick Hodges But only 3 % under 25, that's bad :(
ReplyDeleteI just did a query of our Delphi customer registration database and the top 15 countries with Delphi developers (paid versions, NOT free or trial or pirated) are:
ReplyDelete1) US, 2) Germany, 3) Japan, 4) Great Britain, 5) France, 6) Brazil, 7) Russia, 8) China, 9) Netherlands, 10) Poland, 11) South Africa, 12) Canada, 13) Australia, 14) Italy, 15) South Korea.
Of course, this is not a poll or membership count for communities, forums, or other social places.
Krasimir Ivanov For this online social community maybe it looks bad, but this is a minor subset of the whole global Delphi community and I wonder if it is a representative sample of the demographics? Unfortunately, we don't ask paid registered Delphi developers what their age is :(
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you found Java, C#, C++, Javascript community age polls on social media sites like this - would you see the same demographics? Are younger developers still in school (and too busy for this)? Are young developers too busy at start-ups and early in their careers to take part in polls?
StackOverflow does an annual developer survey - maybe that would give some comparative information for some of you regarding age distribution of developers? http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2015#profile-age
David Intersimone On the code2014 survey you did not complain about its result - it was as representative as this one. ;)
ReplyDeleteHowever my goal when making this was not to make a point but just out of curiosity - and as someone already said to see how many of the 5.5k people in this community are actually active enough to click a button.
I could write a long essay about my opinions what could/should be done to attract young developers to chose Delphi as their language as I am luckily in a position to do so (we are offering at least one apprenticeship for software developer every year in the company I work for) but I am pestering Marco a lot with that stuff already :)
As for the Stackoverflow numbers: I would be interested in the age profile of those active in questions with the delphi tag as that would be looking very different I am very sure. The proof that the ages of the participants of the survey are not representative is shown here: http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2015#tech-lang
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ReplyDeleteTo offset the balance a bit more: my mother actively uses Delphi and is 85! I count in the upper section at 57 ;) And yes, she has a valid license, but is probably not registered as such at Embarcadero. She uses one of mine.
ReplyDeleteThaddy de Koning "my mother actively uses Delphi and is 85!" It makes my day :)
ReplyDeleteI started with Delphi 2 in 1997, surprised to see that India could not make it to top 15 list of registered users to date
ReplyDeletefeel its poised for a big resurgence, just a matter of time, though it has lost a lot to competitors lately during its low period, the loss apparently seems to lower the pace
ReplyDeleteMichael Thuma No actually. But when I showed her Delphi 2 back in the days she was amazed and got hooked. So, yes, she counts as a seasoned developer, be it not a professional one ;) Doesn't do much anymore, but she's really gifted. She's the kind that teaches other pensioners computer skills and then comments: Those old people will never learn... while they are probably 10 years younger or more
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! I would love to know her!!!! :D
ReplyDeleteStill in love with Delphi. However, I am a bit concerned that the <25 age group percent is so low. That means that there is not as much enthusiasm for Delphi at that age bracket as there was when we started back in 1995. I'm 42 now.
ReplyDeleteDavid Intersimone, there's something amiss when India isn't in the top 15. The country has over a billion people and a decent % of developers.... Just the sheer volume should have put it in the top 5 (if not 3). To me, it means there's a lot of untapped potential.
ReplyDelete