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Stack Overflow Dev Survey 2026

Importance of information accuracy

Our analysis

Accuracy is the expectation for official docs, API documentation, and code repos; chat tools and Stack Overflow face lower accuracy expectations.
Importance of information accuracyAll Respondents · n = 14,049All RespondentsImportance of information accuracyVery importantImportantSomewhat importantNot very importantLeast importantCode and comments65%28%6%Coworkers or teammates57%34%8%Customer and sales info51%29%17%Internal chat tools35%44%19%Internal docs and wikis51%36%12%Manager or leadership60%31%9%Meeting notes35%37%24%4%None of these55%14%16%5%9%Not sure43%17%26%5%9%Official docs73%22%5%Past decisions38%37%20%4%Product and API docs68%25%6%Ticketing tools41%41%15%Stack Overflow30%41%25%3%Vendor forum38%36%22%3%14,049Data licensed under Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0
All Respondents · n = 14,049
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Format

Question

For each source, how important is it that information you use to operate is accurate?
  • scale
  • Optional
  • v2026.1
  • Carries forward KnowledgeQ

Data

Very importantImportantSomewhat importantNot very importantLeast important
Code repositories or code comments65.2%27.6%6.3%0.7%0.1%
Coworkers or teammates56.7%34.1%8.4%0.7%0.1%
Customer, support, or sales information50.6%28.9%17.1%2.6%0.9%
Internal chat tools, such as Slack or Teams35.0%43.8%18.6%2.3%0.3%
Internal documentation (i.e. Design, product, or planning docs), wiki, or knowledge base50.9%35.9%11.9%1.2%0.2%
Manager or leadership59.6%30.8%8.6%0.8%0.1%
Meeting notes or transcripts34.5%37.0%23.8%3.8%0.9%
None of these55.1%14.3%16.3%5.1%9.2%
Not sure43.0%17.4%25.5%4.7%9.4%
Official docs72.5%21.7%5.0%0.7%0.1%
Past decisions or architecture records38.4%37.4%20.3%3.7%0.2%
Product, vendor, or API documentation68.4%25.3%5.5%0.8%0.0%
Project management or ticketing tools41.2%41.2%15.2%2.0%0.4%
Stack Overflow30.0%40.9%25.0%3.4%0.7%
Vendor forum38.2%36.0%22.1%3.2%0.5%

Use this data

The Markdown table shows one column per segment; the CSV and JSON carry every measure.

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

Spreadsheet

.csv is a plain text format which most spreadsheet software can open.