We’ve always been interested in how developers learn to code, upskill on new tech, and mind meld with their fellow code mongers. While we always want to be part of how developers find answers to their problems, we understand that AI changed the game. But how much? Is community still useful to developers in their times of need? What are people learning and where?
AI skills are coming out on top
This year, we found that more people are learning AI programming skills than non-AI programming skills. Around 79% of developers are focusing on AI skills in their learning. This makes sense, AI programming is newer and changing fast, so there’s a lot to learn right now. But 52% of folks are learning new coding or programming skills, so there’s plenty to learn there still. Most devs (59%) are still using technical documentation to learn, with AI codegen tools coming up close behind at 53%.
View and share | Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Technical documentation (is generated for/by the tool or system) | 8,555 | 58.9% |
| AI codegen tools or AI-enabled apps | 7,650 | 52.6% |
| Other online resources (e.g. standard search, forum, online community) | 7,518 | 51.7% |
| Videos (not associated with specific online course or certification) | 5,975 | 41.1% |
| Stack Overflow or Stack Exchange | 4,909 | 33.8% |
| Online courses or certification (includes all media types) | 4,260 | 29.3% |
| Blogs or podcasts | 4,010 | 27.6% |
| Books / physical media | 3,846 | 26.5% |
| Colleague or on-the-job training | 3,106 | 21.4% |
| School (i.e., university, college, etc) | 2,064 | 14.2% |
| Games or coding challenges | 1,700 | 11.7% |
| Coding bootcamp | 922 | 6.3% |
| Other | 629 | 4.3% |
Which actions do you turn to first when trying to find answers to a problem?
When faced with a problem they need answers to, about 70% asked an AI agent. AI agents and overviews have definitely changed everyone’s internet behaviors, and we’re feeling the effects too. Lots of folks indicated that they’re participating in the Stack Overflow community less because of AI: 64% visit less for simple questions, 29% ask fewer questions, and 26% contribute less. The good news is that whenever you go to an AI agent for answers, you’re still using Stack Overflow. Many of the model providers use our community data to train their LLMs.
View and share | Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Use online search tools to find general guidance and/or discourse | 13,774 | 82.7% |
| Ask an AI agent | 11,643 | 69.9% |
| Go directly to a maintained repository or more than one and search within its contents (this could be a repository like Wikipedia or IMDB or GitHub projects) | 7,288 | 43.7% |
| Send a message to a human I trust directly | 4,803 | 28.8% |
| Post a message in a group text or private discussion among humans I know | 2,462 | 14.8% |
| Post in a public online forum | 1,327 | 8.0% |
| Send a message to a human that I don't know directly | 276 | 1.7% |
But devs aren’t just using AI to learn
Before you order our tombstone, the majority of people (83%) still use search to answer problems first. Google, once our primary referrer, added AI overviews, which certainly stops folks from following any links at all. Testing has shown that 1 in 10 of those overviews may contain errors. But not all of those searches stop at the AI overview, as people still have reasons to visit: 16% look to verify the source, and 6% visit because of the AI answer. This holds true for not just the individual learner—human expertise continues to be important even at the enterprise level.
“I can use AI to ask simple questions but for complicated questions I use StackOverflow.”
When it comes to how folks are contributing to developer knowledge communities, 22% of folks indicated no change, 6% said they ask more advanced questions, and 1% of folks recognize that the garden needs tending and are contributing more. This was a sentiment repeated by Major League Hacking’s CEO Mike Swift when he joined us on the Stack Overflow podcast, telling us, “We're just inundated with digital assets and digital communication. Person-to-person, real human connection is gonna be the driver of so much stuff in life. Communities of practice guilds, in a lot of ways, are the future.”
View and share | Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Visit less for simple questions | 10,892 | 64.1% |
| Ask fewer questions | 4,910 | 28.9% |
| Contribute less | 4,496 | 26.5% |
| No change | 3,704 | 21.8% |
| Visit more for verification (for example, source attribution) | 2,707 | 15.9% |
Stack Overflow and community platforms
And community is still important
This might be biased because it’s our survey, but the top two platforms that respondents worked with last year were GitHub (70%) and Stack Overflow (69%). In terms of platforms they want to work with next year, the top two remain: GitHub tops at 45% and we’re second with 44%. We’re thrilled that you all still have a lot of goodwill towards us; our challenge is to give you more reasons to visit.
View and share | Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub (public projects, not private repos) | 7,460 | 69.5% |
| Stack Overflow | 7,372 | 68.6% |
| YouTube | 6,272 | 58.4% |
| 5,784 | 53.8% |
“Stack Overflow is a place to get reliable up to date answers.”
How about those folks who don’t participate in technical communities much? Part of the answer is certainly AI (45% feel that AI answers enough of their questions that they don’t seek out human expertise), but another part is that communities have built up solid knowledge (where 65% of respondents can find answers without posting). But there’s another problem that’s much older than AI (and harder, too): making folks feel welcome and safe. Of those who aren’t active in technical communities, 21% worry about being judged, 20% don’t feel confident about public posts, 18% prefer private conversations, and 12% feel like they aren’t welcome in those spaces.
Whether you’ve been using AI to learn about AI or still lean on the code experts in your online and IRL communities, it’s clear that learning is still core to what it means to be a developer in our ever-shifting technological landscape.
- Find without posting
- I use AI
- I do not have time
- Questions are specific
- Judged/critizied
| Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| I usually find answers without posting | 10,162 | 65.1% |
| AI tools answer enough of my questions | 6,979 | 44.7% |
| I do not have time | 5,588 | 35.8% |
| My questions are too specific to my company or context | 3,532 | 22.6% |
| I worry about being judged or criticized | 3,297 | 21.1% |
Stack Overflow and community platforms
40% are learning AI skills for both work and personal projects
Four in ten developers learned AI programming across both personal and work settings, driving overall AI skill development participation to 79% overall.
View and share | Respondents | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, on my own | 6,607 | 23.4% |
| Yes, at work | 4,360 | 15.4% |
| Yes, both on my own and at work | 11,350 | 40.2% |
| No | 5,923 | 21.0% |
Explore Community data
See the full breakdown