GitHub reveals new trends in global software development

GitHub's Innovation Graph, offering detailed insights into global software development over the last four years, has been updated with new data from Q4 2023. Among the emerging trends observed in the current release are an increased focus on AI tools and heightened activity from developers seeking to learn more obscure programming languages.

The increasing popularity of AI tools has prompted developers to ramp up their project documentation, as exemplified by the uptake of GitHub Copilot Chat and ChatGPT. "We didn't see the usual cyclical dip of the documentation topic during 2023," a representative noted. This growth in documentation could be linked to the mainstreaming of chat-based genAI tools, which seem to be "helping to reduce the friction around writing documentation."

Alongside this, developers are capitalising on the Advent of Code - a challenge running from December 1 to 25, calling on participants to solve daily coding problems - as an opportunity to engage with less familiar programming languages. Significantly, COBOL, which is the digital backbone of almost half of all financial institutions, is among these lesser-used languages that are attracting more attention.

Insights specific to Australia from the Q4 2023 update showcase the scale and engagement of the nation's developers. More than 1,498,000 Australian developers and over 83,000 Australian organisations are part of the GitHub community, and during the quarter, Australian developers uploaded code to GitHub more than 1.7 million times. Australian developers and organisations owned over 3.3 million repositories on GitHub, according to the Innovation Graph.

Interestingly, the data also revealed the key partners of Australian organisations and developers. Their top three collaborators were the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The report also identified JavaScript as the most used programming language in Australia, with Python and Shell following.

In addition to these insights, the Innovation Graph's breadth of data allows for the highlighting of cyclical patterns and trends in software development, making it a vital tool for understanding the global software ecosystem. Recent trends, including increased project documentation and exploration of obscure programming languages, offer a unique lens into the ever-evolving landscape of global software development.

The updated Innovation Graph also includes modifications to enhance clarity and functionality in response to community feedback. These changes demonstrate GitHub's commitment to fostering a global community of developers and facilitating innovative collaboration between economies.