Skip to content
Stack Overflow Dev Survey 2026

Importance of current information

Our analysis

Recency/timestamps matter most for official docs and product/vendor docs; people tolerate stale human knowledge.
Importance of current informationAll Respondents · n = 13,678All RespondentsImportance of current informationVery importantImportantSomewhat importantNot very importantLeast importantCode and comments51%27%15%6%Coworkers or teammates30%30%23%12%4%Customer and sales info49%31%14%4%Internal chat tools36%34%21%7%Internal docs and wikis42%33%19%5%Manager or leadership36%31%20%9%3%Meeting notes43%33%16%6%None of these37%12%30%10%12%Not sure28%25%28%9%10%Official docs52%30%13%4%Past decisions35%31%24%8%Product and API docs51%31%13%4%Ticketing tools45%34%17%4%Stack Overflow34%33%22%9%Vendor forum43%30%20%7%13,678Data licensed under Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0
All Respondents · n = 13,678
Download this chart
Format

Question

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

Data

Very importantImportantSomewhat importantNot very importantLeast important
Code repositories or code comments50.5%27.1%14.6%6.0%1.8%
Coworkers or teammates30.1%30.3%23.4%11.7%4.4%
Customer, support, or sales information49.0%31.1%14.4%4.4%1.2%
Internal chat tools, such as Slack or Teams35.8%34.1%21.2%7.3%1.7%
Internal documentation (i.e. Design, product, or planning docs), wiki, or knowledge base41.9%33.2%18.6%5.2%1.0%
Manager or leadership36.1%31.4%20.2%9.1%3.3%
Meeting notes or transcripts43.1%33.1%16.3%6.1%1.4%
None of these36.6%11.8%30.1%9.7%11.8%
Not sure27.8%25.0%27.8%9.0%10.4%
Official docs52.0%29.8%13.2%3.9%1.0%
Past decisions or architecture records35.4%30.8%23.6%8.3%1.9%
Product, vendor, or API documentation51.2%31.3%12.9%3.6%0.9%
Project management or ticketing tools44.5%33.6%16.8%4.2%1.0%
Stack Overflow33.7%33.3%22.2%8.5%2.3%
Vendor forum42.8%29.5%20.2%6.5%1.0%

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.