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Yes. JavaScript was the most commonly used programming, scripting, or markup language in Stack Overflow’s 2023 Developer Survey, reported by 63.61% of 87,585 respondents who answered that question. It was the eleventh consecutive year JavaScript ranked first in the survey. That result describes Stack Overflow’s respondents—not every developer worldwide—and measures work during the previous year, not which language is best for a particular project.
What the 2023 survey says about language use
Stack Overflow asked respondents which programming, scripting, and markup languages they had done extensive development work in during the prior year. Respondents could select multiple technologies, so the percentages are not shares that add up to 100%.
| Technology | Respondents reporting extensive work |
|---|---|
| JavaScript | 63.61% |
| HTML/CSS | 52.97% |
| Python | 49.28% |
| SQL | 48.66% |
| TypeScript | 38.87% |
These figures are from the all-respondent language results; 87,585 people answered the question. See Stack Overflow’s 2023 technology results.
How results differed by respondent group
The overall ranking conceals differences in experience and work. Among professional developers, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and SQL were the top three technologies. Among people learning to code, HTML/CSS and JavaScript were nearly tied.
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#1 Best Overall
| Comparison | People learning to code | Professional developers |
|---|---|---|
| Python versus SQL | Python: 59%; SQL: 37% | SQL: 52%; Python: 45% |
The survey also published separate results for other coders. The differences are a reminder that the answer to “most used” depends partly on whom you ask, not only on which language is being counted.
What the ranking does—and does not—mean
JavaScript’s first-place result supports a straightforward conclusion: it had broad use among people who responded to this survey. It does not prove that JavaScript is objectively the best language, the most suitable choice for every project, or the language used by a majority of all developers worldwide. The question was about extensive work in the previous year; it was not a test of skill, code quality, or future preference.
Rank #2
Stack Overflow also asked what respondents wanted to work with in the next year. That is a separate measure from reported past-year use: a language’s popularity today should not be treated as proof that respondents want to adopt it next. The survey offers distinct views for all respondents, professional developers, learners, and other coders, so comparisons should keep the respondent group and the measure in view.
JavaScript in the broader web-development stack
JavaScript’s prominence appeared alongside widespread use of related web technologies. Among all respondents, Node.js was reported by 42.65% and React by 40.58%; jQuery (21.98%), Express (19.28%), Angular (17.46%), and Next.js (16.67%) followed. These are separate technology categories, not programming-language rankings.
The same survey also found Docker was the most-used “other tool,” at 53%, and AWS was the most-used cloud platform, at 52.7%. Those results help place the language findings in the context of respondents’ broader development environments, but they do not establish that any one framework, tool, or cloud platform caused JavaScript’s popularity.
How representative is the Stack Overflow survey?
Stack Overflow reported 89,184 qualified responses across 185 countries. Fieldwork ran from May 8 to 19, 2023. Recruitment was primarily through Stack Overflow-owned channels, including onsite messaging, blog posts, email and newsletters, banner ads, and social media. That approach is useful for understanding the Stack Overflow respondent community, but people who use or follow Stack Overflow closely may have been more likely to see and answer the invitation.
For that reason, the results should be read as a signal from a large, international, self-selected group—not as a probability sample representing every developer. The number of countries and responses does not remove the possibility of selection bias. Stack Overflow’s methodology section provides its account of recruitment and fieldwork.
Rank #4
Other findings in the 2023 survey
The survey also captured attitudes toward AI tools. Its overview said 70% of all respondents were using or planning to use AI tools in their development process. A Stack Overflow press release reported that 77% felt favorable toward AI tools, while 42% trusted the accuracy of their output. These are separate survey measures; favorable sentiment should not be confused with trust in accuracy.
In discussing AI, Stack Overflow CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar said, “The quality of the data feeding those systems is what will ultimately determine the success or failure of this groundbreaking technology.” Read Stack Overflow’s survey announcement.
Stack Overflow’s editorial analysis also reported a 5–10% contraction in median salary for the three most-used technologies—JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python. This is an observed comparison in survey data; it does not show that choosing one of those languages caused salaries to change. Read the survey analysis on the Stack Overflow Blog.
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