Survey: App Developers Cite Time Constraints and Poor Testing as Two Biggest Project Challenges

Study also reveals technologies that developers believe will most impact their field

SAN FRANCISCO – Aug. 4, 2010 — Application developers rated a lack of time for work projects and poor unit and system testing as their two top challenges, according to a new Application Developer Trends survey conducted by Embarcadero Technologies.

The survey was conducted in May 2010, and the 606 respondents were a mixture of developers, architects and analysts. The complete survey results and additional information are available online at http://www.embarcadero.com/reports/developer-survey

When asked to identify the three biggest project challenges they face as developers, 52% complained of not having enough time to accomplish assigned work tasks, 31% called out poor unit and system testing, and 30% said insufficient or no requirements. Also rating high on the list of challenges were deficient planning, slow tools and technologies, and scope creep. Communication was one project element that didn’t seem to be broken, with very few pointing to it as a problem area.

A Yearning for Learning

One commonality was how developers say they spend their time on the job. Coding ranked highest, with more than 37% of respondents saying it takes up the most time in their day. Designing, analyzing and debugging were also mentioned frequently.

How most survey respondents wanted to spend their time was a different story, with many lamenting about time constraints impacting their ability to focus on their own professional development. Around 60% of software developers said they wish they had more time to learn new programming languages and technologies, or to keep their skills up to date. More than 36% said unit and system testing, and nearly 33% would add documentation to notes and code if they had time.

“Today’s economic climate has challenged many development teams to meet or exceed productivity and performance goals with less manpower and in a shorter timeframe. Developers everywhere have risen to the challenge, but time constraints are obviously still a struggle for many development teams,” said Michael Rozlog, product manager for Delphi Solutions at Embarcadero. “Unfortunately, the increased time pressure also prevents many developers from learning new skills and programming languages – a fact that could spell trouble for companies as more and more new technologies filter into the market.”

Make Way for Mobile Applications and 64-bit

While they may not have enough time to learn about developing for new technologies, software developers are still expecting many to have a significant impact on the development community. And, mobile applications are seemingly the standouts of the newer technologies. When asked to rank which upcoming technologies will have the greatest impact on the development community at large, respondents ranked mobile applications first (56%), 64-bit computing second (50%) and parallel programming third (47%). Cloud computing (31%) and virtualization (29%) rounded out the top five.

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Other insights from the survey include:

• Of the self-employed developers surveyed, 43% said that compared to five years ago they are making more money on their development projects today, 30% said they are making about the same, and 26% said they are making less
• Of the independent software vendors (ISVs) surveyed, 43% said it is harder to sell their applications today than it was five years ago, 22% said it is easier today, and 34% said that it is about the same

About Embarcadero Technologies

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of award-winning tools for application developers and database professionals so they can design systems right, build them faster and run them better, regardless of their platform or programming language. Ninety of the Fortune 100 and an active community of more than three million users worldwide rely on Embarcadero products to increase productivity, reduce costs, simplify change management and compliance and accelerate innovation. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices located around the world. Embarcadero is online at www.embarcadero.com.

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Media Contact:                                                                                      

Rebecca Scanlan

Chase Communications

303.733.0328

Rebecca@chasecomm.net