“It seems like everyone with more than 5 years coding experience thinks they’re above average.”
— A developer friend of mine, in disgust

Bob Martin once famously recounted that since the beginning of the computer industry, roughly starting with Alan Turing in the 1940s, the majority of software developers have had less than 5 years experience. Roughly, this holds true today, too, for the simple reason that the industry is growing faster than people leave the field.

The newest StackOverflow Developer Survey seems to show a similar pattern:

49.53% of respondants had 9 years coding experience or less. And given that this survey has a large selection bias, we can assume that if we were to do a representative survey of all software developers, the numbers would include a lot more inexperienced developers. This suggests that Bob Martin’s assertion that the median developer experience is around 5 years is probably correct, and that my friend’s frustration was probably misplaced.

What does this mean for you?

Well, if you’re in the group of people with less than 5 years experience, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Literally half of the industry is in the same boat with you, making honest mistakes, and learning along the way.

If you’re like me, and have more than 5 or 10 years experience, I can think of two ways to look at the situation. One is to simply rest on your laurels. If that’s your approach, I guess in some sense you’ve earned it. I hope you enjoy it.

I tend to look at it as having a big responsibility. Maybe the IT industry is no longer in its infancy, but I think it’s fair to say it’s still in early adolescence. And there’s a lot still to be learned—and taught—across an entire gamut of IT experience, from technology, to management styles, to ethical implications of our craft.

This is why I started this mailing list, and my podcast and YouTube channel. I don’t necessarily think I have any “special” insight. But I do have more years experience than roughly 90% of the people in the IT industry. This is my way of giving back, and helping others avoid many of my past mistakes.