GitHub released its 2021 “State of the Octoverse” report, which describes the ways developers continue to create code, accelerate projects, and collaborate as Covid-19 continues to transform the realities of work.
Despite the changes underway in the way developers operate, GitHub finds that coding milestones are actually reached faster, thanks to a combination of more efficient review frameworks, at an 87% increase in speed resulting from the reuse of code and toolchains; and increased use of automation. The latter factor is apparently responsible for the 36% increase in merge requests and the 33% reduction in merge times.
Despite all of these structural changes, most developers have told GitHub that they continue to use Python and Java, especially TypeScript.
Automation and mentoring
The two main factors that help developers migrate to permanent remote and hybrid operating environments are documentation and automation.
In fact, according to the report, well-maintained documentation, guidelines and benchmarks can result in a 50% increase in productivity. At the same time, automation is found to contribute 43% to improved productivity in proprietary development environments and 27% in open source situations. Respondents also reported a higher satisfaction rate when automation was used to reduce friction.
As new developers and engineers continue to adapt to changing priorities, mentoring and welcoming community environments continue to play a major role, notes GitHub. This is especially true for open source teams, where respondents report a 46% increase in productivity when coaching and mentoring is used.
The full results of the GitHub report are available here.
Source: ZDNet.com