The pursuit of the best developer experience

What is the best DX?

After researching everything about the developer experience, we can say that this is one of the most important things in today’s IT world. DX is everything that developers are experiencing from onboarding to their first API call so if you want to keep your developers then you should invest time in developer experience [1]. At the DevFest conference in Prague, Vratislav Kalenda talked about ways how to have happy and productive developers. One of the ways to achieve that is to strive to automate repetitive tasks because repetitive tasks “kill” the developer’s spirit, and the more automated processes, the happier the developers. He also noted the importance of company culture which also has a big impact on the overall developer experience [2].

Good DX is important for several reasons. One of the main reasons is the rapid growth of the IT industry which causes the need for good and satisfied developers. In the figure below we can see the forecast for the growth rate in the IT industry until 2023 [3].

According to Figure 1, the biggest growth is measured in the Emerging tech category which is understandable because new technologies are developed rapidly. The second and the most important category of growth is Software and here we require software developers with good developer experience.  

There are several elements DX is consisting of. As we all know, a great first impression can work wonders and as Arlene S. Hirsch says, onboarding is a prime opportunity for employers to win the hearts and minds of new employees [4]. As Nick Tune mentions in his article responsibility is also a huge factor in DX because all developers want to feel valued and that their work is making an impact. With that comes not being constantly blocked and not waiting for others to provide you access to other tools. The local development environment is also important because with a good environment developers can focus on problem-solving [5].   

Source: statista.com (31/3/2022)

What do developers consider a must-have?

With common requirements such as good work-life balance and good salary, the more important checkboxes to tick are great team culture, pleasant work atmosphere, open communication, sense of purpose, trust, recognition, and professional growth opportunities [6].   

According to the StackFlow survey’s authors report, almost 75 % of developers learn new technology at least once a year and almost 37 % learn something new every few months [7].   

What are employers willing to do for their employees?

Robert Half says that one of the main reasons for employees leaving their job is dissatisfaction with the company culture [8]. So, what are employers ready to invest to keep their employers?   

If the employers want to stay competitive in the future, they must provide at least some of the perks and benefits listed in the continuation [9]:  

• Healthcare   

• Education  
• Remote working/hybrid work  
• Automation of repetitive tasks  

In the close future, we will see if employers are ready to offer their employees what they need/want to keep them satisfied and in their company for a very long time.  

Now when you read a little bit more about DX and its importance, are you ready to invest in it? A great start would be to improve the onboarding process and automate granting access rights to new employees and we might have just the right thing for you. Check it out on kustodian.io.