Developer Pulse: A Survey for Every Coder

Here’s a rewritten version of the article with a more polished and engaging tone, while preserving the original message and structure:

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Sometimes I wonder if it’s okay to admit this on a programming-focused website, but here goes: coding might actually be the least interesting part of being a developer.

Think about it—when I met someone at a recent conference, the highlight wasn’t our shared love for React. It was discovering we both enjoy bouldering. And let’s be honest, The Social Network didn’t win awards for its portrayal of PHP scripts—it was the human drama that captured everyone’s attention.

For the past few years, I’ve been running developer-focused surveys like the State of JS and State of CSS. But those projects have always centered strictly around code. It felt like time for a change.

A New Kind of Survey

Enter the State of Devs survey, now open for participation. This time, we’re shifting the spotlight away from code and toward the people behind it. The survey explores topics like career satisfaction, work environments, health, hobbies, and more.

Some of the questions we’re aiming to answer include:

– What are developers’ favorite movies and games right now?
– How do developers stay physically active?
– Are we getting enough sleep?

But we’re also diving into deeper issues:

– What aspects of their workplace do developers appreciate?
– What factors contribute to workplace discrimination?
– Which global challenges are developers most concerned about?

Reaching New Audiences

Expanding the scope of the survey also gives us the opportunity to reach a broader and more diverse audience.

It’s no secret that many developers—especially those who don’t fit the traditional mold in terms of gender, race, age, disability, or other aspects—often face barriers to community participation. That lack of representation is reflected in our past survey data.

We’ve previously experimented with outreach strategies to address this, but the results weren’t always as impactful as we hoped. So this time, we’re trying something new: including questions that directly speak to the experiences of underrepresented groups, such as whether they’ve faced discrimination in the workplace.

We’re also asking what actions people have taken in response to those experiences—because understanding these realities is the first step toward meaningful change.

Of course, gathering more representative data is a goal. But equally important is recognizing that those who are most vulnerable often experience the effects of harmful policies first. Ignoring their experiences puts the entire community at risk.

At a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are being increasingly challenged, it’s more important than ever to keep these conversations going.

Asking the Big Questions

This year’s survey also touches on broader social and political questions—the kinds of things that keep us up at night.

We’re asking developers what global issues they’re most concerned about, from climate change to political instability. While there’s been a push to keep politics out of the workplace, that ideal feels increasingly out of reach in 2025. When rights are being rolled back and authoritarianism is on the rise, staying silent doesn’t feel like a neutral option anymore.

Tech, after all, isn’t just a bystander—it’s a powerful force in shaping the world. That’s why future editions of the survey may explore developers’ worldviews and ideologies more directly. Is that a step too far? Should we steer clear of controversial topics? I’d love to hear your thoughts—feel free to share your feedback or suggest new topics for future surveys.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to participate in the State of Devs survey. Help us paint a fuller, more human picture of who we are as developers—beyond just the code.

Take the survey now → https://survey.devographics.com/en-US/survey/state-of-devs/2025?source=css_tricks